Painfully Perfect
by Kylaa
Summary: COMPLETE Sharpay was perfect, flawless. At least, that's what everyone thought. T for Eating Disorder.
1. Trailer

**Painfully Perfect Trailer**

Key:

**Words that appear on the screen: Bold**

_Actions: Italic_

Dialogue: Regular

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical in any way.

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**Everything was perfect.**

_Shows the gang laughing at the lunch table._

**Right?**

_Shows Sharpay picking at her lunch. _

**It took awhile for anyone to notice anything was wrong.**

_Shows Gabriella walking into the bathroom, hearing Sharpay throw up._

**But by then it was too late.**

"I'm telling you! Something's wrong with Sharpay!" Gabriella protested to Troy and Chad.

**Sharpay just couldn't stop.**

"You can do better than that," Sharpay whispered to herself, as she made herself throw up again.

**Eventually, none of us could ignore the fact that she had a problem.**

_The gang watches as Sharpay slowly falls to the ground during musical rehearsal._

**But all she wanted to be was perfect.**

Shows Sharpay counting her ribs and criticizing herself in the mirror before the screen fades black.

**Painfully Perfect.**

**Coming soon.  
**

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So, tell me what you think! This is my first fic ever so please don't be too harsh. I have a couple of ideas, but I'm not sure if I should continue. Give me some feedback please! What do you think I should do, any relationship you want me to try in this story, if I should even continue this story. Thanks! 


	2. Chapter 1

**Painfully Perfect**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HSM in any way.**

**Authors Note: Sorry for this chapter. It's not really all that great but it sets up the story. So please, don't stop reading because of this chapter. I don't think it's too bad but it may be a little boring at first. Thanks!**

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** Chapter 1**

"Sharpay! Hurry up! We are going to be late for school!" Ryan Evans voiced echoed up the stairs.

"One minute! Just hold on Ryan!" Sharpay replied.

Sharpay looked at herself in the mirror. Today she was wearing a jean skirt with rhinestones on the bottom, a light pink tank-top, and she had light pink flip-flops to match. She had pulled her blond hair up into a high pony-tail. With one last swipe of cherry lip gloss on her bottom lip, Sharpay quickly rushed down the stairs and almost ran into her thoroughly annoyed brother.

"Sharpay Evans! You can't do this everyday or we'll always be late!" Ryan said loudly.

"Jeez, okay, I'm sorry. Take a chill pill please!" Sharpay retorted before walking out the front door and towards the car. Sharpay opened the door and situated herself in the shotgun seat. After about five minutes, Ryan entered the car and put the key in the ignition.

"Now who's going to make us late?" Sharpay said with a smirk.

"It's your fault! I couldn't find the keys. You were supposed to leave them on the table and you didn't!" Ryan steamed.

"Oh yeah! Sorry about that." Sharpay spoke lightly, as if it was no big deal.

"Sharpay, sometimes you are just so immature!" And with that Ryan pulled out of the driveway and the Evans twins sped off to school.

--

"Sharpay! Ryan! Hi!" Gabriella squealed to two of her new friends. Ever since the musical auditions were over, everyone became friends.

"Hey Gabby! How are you this morning?" Ryan politely asked.

"Oh, pretty good. I'm just waiting for Taylor because I had a question on our math assignment last night," Gabriella replied looking around for Taylor. "How about you two?"

"It was an okay morning," Ryan said glaring at Sharpay. Sharpay didn't notice though. She didn't even notice that Gabriella had come over. She was to busy texting away on her Sidekick.

"Shar? Sharpay?!" Gabriella asked waving her hands in front of Sharpay's face. Sharpay quickly looked up.

"Oh Gabby! I didn't see you there! What's up?" Sharpay exclaimed.

"Nothing. I was just--." But Gabriella was cut off by the bell. "Never mind. Let's just get to homeroom or Darbus will give us detention." So the three friends quickly walked to homeroom.

--

The day went by quickly, with nothing special happening. Before Sharpay knew it, she and Ryan were on their way home.

"Hi kids! How was school today?" Mrs. Evans asked her two children as they walked through the front door.

"Good! No homework!" Ryan said excitedly.

"That's great honey. How about you Sharpay?"

"It was fine. Just another Monday at high school. I can't wait for musical practice tomorrow! So, what's for dinner mom?" Sharpay asked.

"Salmon, roasted potatoes and salad. We'll probably eat around six because your dad should be home then."

"Okay, well I'm going to go up to my room. Call me down when it's time for dinner!" Sharpay turned towards the stairs and quickly got up to her room. To kill time, Sharpay checked her e-mail and then practiced her lines for the musical. By the time she was done it was 5:45, so Sharpay decided to get into her pajamas before dinner, that way she could get to bed early. So Sharpay quickly changed into a pair of plaid cotton shorts and a white tank-top and made her way downstairs.

--

"…amen." The Evans family finished their prayer and quickly started dinner. The food was passed around the table and everything smelled delicious. Sharpay took a large serving of salmon and potatoes, along with one or two pieces of salad. She quickly started shoveling food into her mouth.

"Jeez Sharpay! Want to save some food for the rest of us?" Ryan joked.

Sharpay ignored his comment as usual. The twins were always teasing each other.

"So, darling how was work today?" Mrs. Evans asked Mr. Evans who was eyeing his daughter.

"It was good. I just had two meetings today, so it wasn't all that busy." Mr. Evans sounded a little distant. After a couple minutes of silence, Mr. Evans spoke.

"Sharpay. Can you please eat a little slower and with manners? You have so much on your plate there and you're already on your second serving of everything. You don't need to eat so much. Besides, you are looking a bit plumper lately. "

Sharpay was appalled and nearly in tears. She lowered her fork and stood up. "Sorry dad! I was just really hungry. I was done anyways. So I'm just going to put my dishes in the sink and head up to bed. Night, everyone."

"Night Sharpay," Sharpay heard her family say as she walked out of the room. Sharpay scraped the food on her plate into the garbage and rinsed her plate. She quickly ran up the stairs before anyone would notice her tears.

--

That night before Sharpay went to bed, she quietly went into her bathroom that was attached to her room. She removed all of her clothes except her bra and underwear and stepped on the scale. Sharpay grew impatient, but soon enough the red numbers glowed. The scale read 123 pounds. "One hundred and twenty-three pounds!? I'm an elephant! How can anyone stand to look at me?" Sharpay thought to herself.

She stepped off the scale and looked at herself in the mirror. You could see her collarbone clearly and could see the faint outlines of her ribs. To anyone else, Sharpay looked healthy. Yet, to Sharpay she thought she looked disgusting and fat. She was embarrassed to look at herself. "I know what I'll do. I'll start a diet. I'll do whatever takes to be skinny." Sharpay thought to herself, and then quickly got into bed.

And that's when Sharpay's troubles began.

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**Authors Note:** So what did you think? Let me know what you thought about it. And again, sorry that this chapter was a little slow, boring, etc. but I needed something to set the story up. I think I did fairly well on this. Opinions, questions, concerns, ideas you'd like to add--anything! Please review! Thanks! 


	3. Chapter 2

**Painfully Perfect**

**Disclaimer: **I don't own High School Musical.

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Sharpay woke up rather early the next morning with the events of last night replaying over and over in her mind. She glanced to her clock and saw that it was 4:20 a.m. She was up over two hours earlier than she needed to be. Since it was so early, Sharpay decided to get a little exercise to try and burn off the calories from dinner last night. She threw on a pair of basketball shorts, a white t-shirt and a gray sweatshirt. Grabbing her shoes and socks, she walked down the stairs as quietly as possible and put on her shoes and socks. Sharpay yanked open the front door and started sprinting as fast as she could. 

Sharpay was running so fast that the houses she passed were just blurs. She ran and ran and ran. She ran until she thought she couldn't breathe and her lungs were on fire. Sharpay sat on the sidewalk for about five minutes, before getting back up and running back towards her house.

Sharpay had just run about four miles and it was only 5:30. Disgusted by how sweaty she was, Sharpay kicked off her tennis shoes, grabbed a towel from the linen closet and quickly ran upstairs to shower.

--

As Sharpay stepped out of the shower, she had nearly forgotten the events of last night until she looked at herself in the mirror. "Oh my gosh! I look bigger than I did yesterday! What is happening to me?" Sharpay thought to herself. She was nearly in tears, so she grabbed her towel, wrapped it around her body and walked into her closet to find an outfit for the day.

After some careful consideration, Sharpay decided on a pair of dark wash jeans, in the hopes that they would make her look slim, and a long-sleeved baby blue shirt. She looked in the mirror and thought she looked ok, but she wished she was a little slimmer.

It was now 6:15, so Sharpay walked back into the bathroom and brushed her hair, deciding to just let it air-dry today so that it would be wavy. She grabbed her make-up bag and applied some dark blue eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara to her eyes. She pulled out her favorite cherry lip gloss and ran the wand across her lips.

Sharpay decided to weigh herself, hoping she had lost some weight. She stepped on the scale and the red numbers glowed out 122.5. "Only half a pound? But I ran four miles! I guess I'll just have to work harder."

It was now 6:30, so everyone in the house would be waking up soon. Sharpay decided to practice lines for the musical because she had musical practice after school. Before Sharpay knew it, it was 7:15 and she was being called down for breakfast. Sharpay hopped from her bed and ran down the stairs.

--

"Good morning Sharpay! How'd did you sleep?" Mrs. Evans asked, pulling her daughter into a hug.

"Great!" Sharpay lied. She kept waking up in the middle of the night from nightmares, but her family didn't need to know that. "How about you guys?"

"Good," everyone said. Sharpay sat down with her family and they prayed. After praying, Sharpay looked at what they were having for breakfast. Pancakes, sausage, hash browns, strawberries and orange juice. Sharpay's arm was half way to the pancakes before she realized that she couldn't ruin her diet. Just eating breakfast could ruin it all. She turned her arm to the strawberries and grabbed three and set them on her plate. She then served herself up the smallest spoonful of hash browns and put that on her plate. After pouring herself a glass of orange juice, she started to eat.

"Shar, aren't you hungry? That's all your going to eat?" Ryan asked his sister.

"Oh yeah, I'm not very hungry, that's all," Sharpay replied, avoiding her brother's stare.

"Well good thing we're going for coffee today," Ryan said. The twins usually got coffee on the mornings of the days that they had musical practice. "You'll probably be hungry by then."

"Oh, I bet you're right," Sharpay forced a laugh and looked back at her plate. She had eaten one strawberry, half of her small serving of hash browns and half a glass of orange juice and she was extremely hungry. But she couldn't ruin her diet, she just couldn't.

"Ryan, Sharpay, you should probably head out soon. It's 7:30," Mr. Evans said.

Ryan and Sharpay hugged their parents goodbye and headed out to the car. As soon as they were both in, they set off to get coffee.

--

"Wow Sharpay! I can't believe you were up in time to eat breakfast with us this morning," Ryan teased.

"Ha ha, very funny," Sharpay replied sarcastically. "I got to bed early, so I woke up on time. There's no problem with that!"

"Ok, ok. Calm down Sharpay. I was only joking."

The rest of the ride was silent until they arrived at the coffee shop. They decided to do drive-through today, so they pulled up to the window and were greeted by Matt, their usual server.

"Good morning, Evans twins," Matt greeted with a warm smile. "The usual? Two medium white chocolate mochas, with extra whipped cream for Sharpay?"

"Does that sound right, Shar?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, but can I get no whipped cream instead?"

"No problem," Matt said. "That'll be $7.43. Thanks guys!"

Ryan paid Matt and they waited five minutes for their drinks. "Here you go," Matt said handing the twins their drinks. "Have a great day!"

"You too," Sharpay said, and they drove off towards school.

--

They arrived at school with fifteen minutes before homeroom. Sharpay entered, followed by Ryan and they walked to Troy's locker, where they found Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, Chad, Jason, Zeke and Kelsi.

"Good morning!" Ryan said happily. "What's up?"

"Not much. Chad was just telling us the funniest story," Troy said and started laughing again.

"It wasn't _that_ funny, Troy. No offense sweetie," Taylor said.

"None taken," Chad said with a smile and leaned over and kissed Taylor on the cheek. Taylor just smiled back.

"Ok, well I'm just going to go to the bathroom. Shar, want to come with me?" Gabriella asked.

"Sure!" Sharpay said warmly.

"We'll just see you in homeroom," Gabriella told Troy, who leaned in to kiss her.

"I'll miss you!" Troy said.

Gabriella smiled and the two girls walked off to the bathroom.

"You and Troy are just too cute," Sharpay said smiling.

"Thanks, Shar. He's so sweet and he always makes me smile. Oh, what are you drinking this morning?" Gabriella said noticing Sharpay's drink.

"Oh, white chocolate mocha. Do you want it? I'm not hungry for it 'cause I had such a big breakfast," Sharpay lied.

"Are you sure?" Gabriella hesitated.

"Positive." Sharpay smiled and handed it to Gabriella, who gratefully accepted it.

"Thank you so much Sharpay!" Gabriella gushed to Sharpay, who was reapplying her lip gloss.

"No problem." The morning bell went off and the two girls headed to homeroom.

--

"Announcements," Ms. Darbus said loudly. "Today we have musicale rehearsal after school until 4:30. Next…" But basically everyone tuned out Ms. Darbus and started talking.

"So, Troy, are you excited for the game on Friday?" Chad asked his best friend.

"You know it! We are going to take down the West High Knights, like last time!" Troy replied.

"Oh, Sharpay! You finished your mocha already?" Ryan asked his sister.

"Mhm. While Gabby and I were in the bathroom. Thanks for buying it for me, I'm so full now," Sharpay whispered to her brother. She felt bad for lying, but it's not like he was going to know.

Homeroom ended and everyone went to class, talking all the way.

--

Sharpay's first classes that morning, math with Taylor and Gabby and history with Ryan, Chad, Troy, Gabriella and Taylor, were both uneventful. It was soon lunchtime, so Sharpay got in line to get a salad. She walked to her usual table, where she sat with the gang. She and Ryan had started sitting with them after everyone became friends. Everybody was already sitting down, so Sharpay sat between Gabriella and Taylor. Soon enough, their table erupted with laughter, after Chad told a story about basketball practice last week. Sharpay just sat there, picking at her food and staring greedily at everybody else's. Her stomach rumbled quietly and Sharpay shoved two pieces of lettuce in her mouth and chewed for a long time before swallowing. Lunch ended, to Sharpay's relief, pretty quickly. She walked to Science with Kelsi, Chad and Gabriella and tried to ignore the pains in her stomach.

--

After school, Sharpay went to musical practice, where she tried her best despite her annoying hunger pains. Chad, Jason, Taylor and Zeke usually came to watch if they didn't have basketball practice or Decathalon practice. Sharpay walked in and waved at them and then quickly rushed on stage to start practicing. Sharpay played a supporting role along with Ryan; Troy and Gabriella being leads. Rehearsal went great and Ms. Darbus was pleased.

"So Sharpay, Ryan, would you guys like to come to the diner with us? We're all just going to go hang out there." Troy asked.

"Um, you guys go. I'm not feeling so well, so I think I'm going to go home and sleep," Sharpay said. The truth was she didn't feel good, but mainly just because she was hungry.

"Ok. Ryan we'll give you a ride there and home, so Sharpay can just take your car home," Troy offered.

"Thanks man. We'll see you later Shar," Ryan said.

"Feel better Sharpay," Gabriella said, as the gang went over to their cars and Sharpay went to hers.

"Bye guys! I'll see you tomorrow," Sharpay said happily and then drove off.

--

As soon as Sharpay got home, she rushed upstairs and did her homework. It took about an hour to do, so by the time she finished it was 5:45. Ryan would be home soon and Sharpay didn't want him to think she lied about not feeling well. So Sharpay changed into blue sweatpants and a white t-shirt and went back to her bed to lie down.

She heard Ryan walking up the stairs and then a soft knock on her down.

"Come on," Sharpay whispered.

"Hey Sharpay! Are you feeling better?" Ryan ask, concerned.

"A little bit. I'm sure I'll be fine for school tomorrow, but I think I'm going to pass on dinner tonight. Will you tell mom and dad for me?"

"Of course. I hope you feel better," Ryan said giving Sharpay a kiss on her forehead. "Love you Shar. Night."

"Thanks Ry," Sharpay said. "Love you, too. Goodnight."

As soon as Sharpay was sure Ryan had went downstairs, Sharpay jumped out of bed, ran into the bathroom and locked the door.

She did the same routine she did the night before, taking off her sweatpants and t-shirt, so she was left in her bra and underwear. She stepped on the scale, and soon enough it read 121.5. Sharpay was ecstatic. She jumped off the scale and observed herself in the mirror.

"Why do I still look like an elephant? I'm still huge! Why isn't this working?" Sharpay touched her collarbone and looked at herself with disappointment. Sharpay put her pajamas back on and started heading towards the bathroom door. But then she noticed the toilet. She had heard about purging. The idea scared Sharpay, but all she wanted to be was skinny.

"You don't need to do that," she told herself and unlocked the door and got into bed. "Yet." And Sharpay drifted off to sleep

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**Author's Note:** Ok, so what do you guys think? I thought this chapter was okay but I want your input. Could you please refrain from just saying, "update soon." You can say that, sure, but I would really like some input. What you liked, what you didn't like, what I should add—anything, as long as it's not too harsh. Please give me some input on this chapter and please review! Thanks for reading!  



	4. Chapter 3

**Painfully Perfect**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own HSM. :

**Author's Note:** This is sort of another filler chapter. I'm having a little bit of writer's block. I have some ideas for Sharpay's eating disorder, but I don't want to bring them into the story this early. Sorry for the long wait and sorry for this chapter. It's not the greatest but oh well! Individual review replies are at the bottom! Oh and I'd like to thank Stessa who gave me some inspiration for this chapter. :D Enjoy and review!

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**Chapter 3**

Sharpay woke up the next morning at four from her horrible hunger pains. She had barely eaten in the past twenty-four hours and didn't know how much longer she could keep this up.

Sharpay was exhausted but couldn't fall back asleep no matter how hard she tried. SO she dragged herself out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom. Sharpay stepped on the scale and moments later it said 120.5 pounds. Stepping off the scale, Sharpay walked over to look at herself in the mirror.

_"I don't look thin yet. But three pounds is a lot for such a short time. I'm not skinny like a lot of people but maybe I could go back to eating more. Just eating healthier and not as much."_ And with that Sharpay hopped into the shower, looking forward to breakfast.

--

There were five minutes until Sharpay had to go down to breakfast so she looked at herself in the mirror. Sharpay had blow-dried and straightened her hair. Today she was wearing a pair of dark wash jean Bermuda shorts and a white tank top.

Sharpay double checked her make-up and hair and leapt down the stairs.

--

"Oh mom! This breakfast is delicious!" Sharpay said, grabbing a blueberry muffin. Today Sharpay had an egg, two slices of bacon and a muffin for breakfast. Sharpay was extremely happy that she decided she could diet but still eat normally.

"Well I'm glad you're feeling better Shar. It must've just been a 24-hour thing yesterday," Mrs. Evans suggested.

"Probably! Well thanks for breakfast mom, but Ryan and I should go. We'll see you after school!" Sharpay stood up and hugged her parents goodbye and then headed towards the car with Ryan.

Once they were on the road, Sharpay asked "How was the diner last night?"

"Oh pretty fun. We all wish you would've come though," Ryan said with his eyes on the road.

"I'll come next time," Sharpay said while they were pulling into the parking lot. The Evans twins got out of their car and walked into school.

--

Sharpay was super bored during homeroom as she sat and listened to everyone talk about how much fun the diner was last night. Soon enough Ms. Darbus did the announcements and reminded everyone that musical practice was next Wednesday after school until four thirty. Five minutes after the announcements the bell rang and Sharpay headed to math class with Taylor and Gabriella.

They sat in class for twenty minutes learning the next lesson in the math book and then were given their assignment. Everyone broke off into groups to work together.

"So are you feeling better Sharpay?" Gabriella asked concernedly.

"Yeah, tons. Thanks Gabs. So it sounds like the diner was fun last night," Sharpay replied.

"It was ok I guess. The boys kept going on about basketball and such and Gabriella, Kelsi and I just talked about the musical and Decathalon and girl stuff. I wish you would've been there," Taylor said.

"I wish I could've come too. But we'll all go again soon. So what did you guys get for number eighteen? I don't get it," Sharpay whined.

Gabriella giggled and said, "Here let me help you."

After five minutes, Sharpay understood what to do and the girls chatted away while working on their math. A half an hour later the bell rang and the girls headed off to science.

--

For the next week, Sharpay was still eating healthily and was pleased with herself, even though she wished she was skinnier. Sharpay was constantly feeling paranoid though, that everyone else saw her way bigger than she did and she kept feeling down on herself.

That Wednesday after school Sharpay walked over to the theater for musical practice and met up with Ryan, Troy and Gabriella inside.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Sharpay asked dropping her bag on the floor.

"Not much, but Darbus is crabby today so we've got to be perfect," Troy said while looking over his lines.

"Mrs. Darbus? Crabby? No way! She's never crabby!" Gabriella said sarcastically before giggling.

"Oh you think you're funny, do ya?" Troy said pulling Gabriella into a hug, laughing along with her.

"You know I'm funny! I should be a comedian. I think it's the right career for me," Gabriella choked out making her and Troy laugh harder.

"Ok, you guys can stop now. Why don't we actually rehearse?" Sharpay said sternly.

"Sorry Sharpay," Troy said, letting his laughter subside. "We got carried away."

"Yeah sorry. Where's Mrs. Darbus?" Gabriella said.

"Sorry I'm late. I had Mr. Danforth in detention for fifteen minutes. Ok, why don't we take it where we left off last week starting at act one, scene two. And go," Mrs. Darbus said.

That day during musical rehearsal went great. Everyone remembered their cues and what they were supposed to do. But Mrs. Darbus was most happy with Gabriella. She kept going on and on about how wonderful Gabriella was doing and how she had a natural talent for acting.

After practice, Sharpay and Ryan were walking to their car and Sharpay said "Don't you think Gabriella was so annoying today? She is just little miss perfect with her perfect sense of humor and her perfect acting skills. Oh and don't forget she's super smart, too! It's all about her all the time! It's so annoying! Why does she always insist on be the center of attention? Doesn't it make you mad?"

Before Ryan could say anything he was interrupted. "Actually, you know what makes me mad? That you would talk about me behind my back!" Gabriella said accusingly.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry. But you know what I mean! You are always getting so much attention because you are just oh so perfect," Sharpay retorted. "It's just always about Gabriella, isn't it?"

"You know what I think Sharpay? I think you're jealous. You just feel so inferior to me don't you?" Gabriella spat back.

"Hey guys, stop now okay," Ryan said trying to calm down the two angry girls standing before him.

"Butt out Ryan!" Sharpay snapped. "And why would I be jealous of you Gabriella? What is there to be jealous of?"

"That's it! You _are_ jealous. You're jealous that I'm a great actress, that I have a wonderful singing voice, that Troy likes me and that I'm skinny and you're not!" Gabriella replied with extreme anger.

"What did you just say?" Sharpay said in a horrified low whisper.

"You heard me! Why else do you think I made lead and you didn't?" Gabriella said harshly before turning away.

"Sharpay, I'm sure she didn't mean that, I—" Ryan started before he was cut off by Sharpay.

"Uh, Ryan, uh," Sharpay said holding back tears. "I'll just uh meet you at home." Sharpay instantly turned off and sprinted away from the parking lot, tears streaming down her cheeks. Just as Sharpay slowed down a bit, she ran right into Troy who was walking out of the school.

"Whoa, Sharpay! You're in a hurry, aren't you?" Troy said jokingly. But then he noticed that she was crying. "Is something wrong Sharpay? What happened?"

"It was, uh, nothing. I'm fine Troy thanks," Sharpay released herself from his grasp and continued running home.

--

Right when Sharpay got home, she kicked off her shoes and ran up to her room, locked her door and flopped onto her bed crying.

Right away Sharpay heard a knock on her door. "Sharpay. It's me, Ryan. Are you okay? Do you want to talk?"

"No Ryan. Just please go away." Sharpay heard Ryan shuffle down the hallway. She spent another half an hour crying and then did her homework. By the time she finished it was dinnertime. Ryan brought Sharpay her dinner and told her that he told their parents that she was really upset and didn't want any company.

That night for dinner they were having Sharpay's favorite, chicken tortellini, asparagus and mashed cauliflower. Sharpay sat on her bed, looking at her dinner and Gabriella's words playing over and over in her head. _"…I'm skinny and you're not! Why else do you think I made lead and you didn't?"_

Sharpay stood up from her bed and headed into the bathroom and weighed herself. The last time Sharpay weighed herself was on Sunday and she weighed 119 pounds. She stepped on the scale and it eventually read 120 pounds. "_No! Why am I so fat? Gabriella's right,"_ Sharpay thought to herself. "_I am fat. I have no control when it comes to food, do I? I'm not skinny like Gabriella. I'm ugly and I'm huge. No wonder no guys like me. Gabriella said it herself. That's it! I'm going to diet, for real this time. No matter what it takes."_

Sharpay didn't realize that by now she was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. She slid down her bathroom wall and sat with her head in her lap crying. After another twenty minutes of crying, Sharpay slowly drifted off to sleep. Sharpay slept happily, because only in Sharpay's dreams did she feel perfect.

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**Author's Note:** ERR! Could you tell I had trouble writing this? I did. Sorry if it wasn't that great but I felt bad that you hadn't gotten and update soon. Next time won't be as long. Please review; it would make me feel really good because I feel like this chapter was bad. Please, please, please review! Thanks! 

**Individual Review Replies:**

**AshelyZac4life: **I know. I realized after I posted the chapter that no one questioned her about all of her lies. But no one knew she was lying, so why would the question it? Haha, thanks so much for reading and reviewing!

**hollisterchick: **Thanks so much for saying I did a great job. I feel like my chapters aren't good enough because I'm having trouble starting out the story. And I'm sorry I didn't update really soon. But the updates won't take as long next time I promise! Thanks for reading and reviewing!!

**Stessa:** You were an extremely helpful reviewer!! Did you notice the inspiration you gave me for this chapter? The whole fight thing was inspiration from you. It felt a little cheesy writing it but I thought it was a good idea. Do you think I did an okay job writing it? And I know I developed her eating disorder a little fast. I didn't mean to, but I can't change it now can I? I guess it would make sense that it happened fast because wouldn't you expect Sharpay to always get what she wants and that she like craves approval and perfection? So when her dad made that comment she was worried that she wasn't perfect. Does that make sense? Ha, it was just an explanation as to why it was developed quickly because I can't change it now! Thanks for reviewing!!!

**x Estebanita x:** Thanks for reviewing and saying you loved it!!

**Hundredandthree-xo:** Aloha to you too! Thanks for saying it was a great chapter. I tried to make it sort of in-depth but I don't know if it turned out as in-depth as I thought. Thanks for reviewing!!!

**Sarah –or- Miley Cyrus Fan:** Your review made me so happy! Ha, and I love that thing you said about you and Sharpay being alike. It made me smile. I know, I feel bad that I made her dad be the one to say the comment but I couldn't think of any other way. Ha, yes I will continue as you can see. And no problem! I loved reviewing on your story. I think it's really good I just wish you updated more often! Haha, I'm sorry I'm not that great of a reviewer. I will be next time though, I promise! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing Sarah!!


	5. Chapter 4

**Painfully Perfect**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own HSM.

**Author's Note:**** Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter guys! They mean a ton! I don't know how I feel about this chapter. Blahh, I guess. It's sort of filler sort of not. And if you read this chapter please review! You can even say "update soon!" Haha, but I'd prefer a little input. Please, if you read, then please review. And also no flames! Thanks.  
**

For this Chapter

_Italicized _words are noises and thoughts. I think you'll be able to tell which are which.

**Bold** words are messages. (Text/Email)

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_Thud! _Sharpay woke with a start after falling over and hitting her head on the bathtub.

"Ow!" Sharpay whined. She had forgotten that she had fallen asleep in the bathroom. She quietly tip-toed to her bed, rubbing her head the whole time. Sharpay plopped down on her bed and saw that it was 2:13 a.m.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! _Sharpay was settled in bed when she heard her phone beeping. She looked around for it and saw it on her nightstand. Grabbing it, she flipped it open and saw that she had eleven missed calls, three voicemails and four new text messages. After checking, Sharpay realized she had two missed calls and a text message from Ryan, three missed calls, one voicemail and one text message from Troy. That left six missed calls, two voicemails and two text messages, all of them from Gabriella. Sharpay groaned and listened to her voicemails first.

"…Sharpay? It's Gabriella. I'm so sorry. I cannot believe I said those things and I'm supposed to be your best friend and you had no right to be insulted like that and I'm so ashamed of myself. Sharpay, you are none of those things that I said. I guess I was just mad that you were talking about me behind my back and for being mad at me for things that I can't control and so I let my anger get away from me and said things that I didn't mean. And I know that that is no excuse to say those horrible things. Sharpay, I hope you can forgive me and again I am so extremely sorry. I'll see you tomorrow if you'll even talk to me. Alright, well bye!" Sharpay hit save and went to the next message.

"…Hey Sharpay, it's Troy. I just wanted to let you know that I talked to Gabby and Ryan and I heard what happened and I'm so sorry. Gabs said she didn't mean anything and I'm positive she didn't mean those things she said. I'm extremely sorry that it happened though. You've got my number if you want to talk, otherwise I'll just see you tomorrow. Later Sharpay!" Again, Sharpay hit save and went to listen to her last message.

"…Hi Sharpay. It's me again, Gabriella. Again, I just wanted to apologize and tell you how sorry I am. I'm so ashamed of myself and I cannot believe I said those horrible things. You know that none of those things are true right? You are a fabulous singer and actress and plenty of guys would be lucky to have you and you are so not fat! I cannot believe I even said those things to you. I hope you will forgive me. Night Shar." For the last time, Sharpay hit save and sighed a long sigh.

It was now 2:22 a.m. and Sharpay realized that she should get back to sleep, but first she checked her text messages.

**From: Gabriella  
Received: 4:48 PM  
Sharpay!!! I am so extremely sorry!! Please answer my calls!**

**From: Gabriella  
Received: 4:57 PM  
Again I'm sooooooo sorry. Sharpay please answer my calls. I feel terrible. :(**

**From: Troy  
Received: 5:29 PM  
hi Sharpay. i just called u. so call me back if u want! L8r!**

**From: Ryan  
Received: 9:03 PM  
Hey Shar! You aren't letting me in your room so I wanted to let you know that mom's bringing me into school early so I can finish my history test. Mom and Dad are working early so you're on your own for breakfast! Oh and Gabby called the house eight times so you should probably call her back. Love you!**

After Sharpay finished reading the last message from Ryan she was extremely pleased that she was on her own for breakfast. This way she could just skip it and say she ate. Sharpay quickly fell back asleep.

--

_Ding! Ding! Ding!_ Sharpay's alarm clock went off right away at 6:30 a.m. Sharpay dragged herself out of her bed and went to the bathroom. Yawning, Sharpay looked in the mirror and saw that she was a mess. She had mascara all around her eyes and cheeks and there were tear streaks all over her face. Her eyes were red and puffy also. So Sharpay splashed some cold water on her face and cleaned it and then hopped in the shower.

Sharpay stepped out of the shower, wrapped herself in a big red towel and walked to her closet. Sharpay chose a pair of dark wash jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt.

Quickly, Sharpay dried herself off and pulled on her outfit for the day. She then walked back into the bathroom, hung up her towel and walk to the mirror.

Sharpay looked at herself with disappointment. _"I'll probably forgive Gabriella. But she wouldn't say those things if she wasn't really thinking them. Even if she didn't mean them, she still thinks those things about me. Why else would she say them?"_

Sharpay's eyes were starting to tear up so she quickly thought about something else. She decided to wear her hair in braids that day. She brushed her hair and then braided it into two braids and tied them with two black elastic bands. Grabbing her make-up bag Sharpay applied her eyeliner on her upper and bottom lids and applied two coats of mascara to each eye. She finished it off with a swipe of her clear gloss and zipped up her make-up bag.

Walking out of her bathroom, Sharpay saw that it was 7:10, meaning she had twenty minutes before the house would be empty and she was supposed to eat breakfast.

Sharpay sat at the end of her bed thinking about everything that had happened yesterday when she was interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Hey Shar. It's me Ryan. Can I please come in?" Ryan asked politely.

"Sure," Sharpay said quietly, not moving from her bed.

Opening the door Ryan walked over to Sharpay and said, "Morning Shar. How are you feeling?"

Sharpay, who had had her head down, looked up with a face glistening with tears.

"Oh Sharpay! Were you crying?" Ryan asked with concern.

Sharpay hadn't realized she was crying, so she quickly wiped her face of her tears and looked at her brother with a watery smile. "I'm fine Ryan. Really, I'll be fine."

"I'll go to school with you, so you don't have to alone. I can always stay after school to take my test."

"NO!" Sharpay said a little too quickly. "I mean, no. I don't want you to miss your test. You can just go on. I'll be fine, seriously. I'll talk to Gabriella when I get to school and everything will be fine. I promise."

"Ok. If you say so," Ryan said pulling Sharpay into a hug. "I'll see you in homeroom." Ryan shut the door and Sharpay walked into the bathroom again. Her makeup was a little runny so she touched it up a bit and then looked over at the bathroom scale. Sharpay cautiously made her way to the scale. She quickly slipped off her clothes and patiently waited. Moments later it read 119.5 pounds. Sharpay wasn't even happy about half a pound. Now that she knew what Gabriella thought about her, Sharpay thought that that's what other people thought about her too, so a half a pound was nothing to be excited about.

Sharpay quickly slipped her clothes back on, grabbed her plate of dinner from last night and headed downstairs. Opening the garbage can, Sharpay dumped her plate of food in the garbage and rinsed her plate.

It was only 7:32 and she didn't have to leave for at least fifteen more minutes. Sharpay's stomach started rumbling so she grabbed a tall glass from the kitchen cabinet and filled it with water. Sharpay did this two more times and then felt awkwardly full. She grabbed five sticks of celery and threw them in her bag and headed out the front door for school.

--

Sharpay entered the school and instantly felt self-conscious. She usually had Ryan with her so right away she headed straight to her locker. Sharpay put her books in her locker and shut it. Right when she shut it she turned around to see Gabriella standing right behind her.

Sharpay could instantly tell that Gabriella had been crying that morning. Her eyes were red and she had tear stains on her cheeks. "Sharpay, I am so sorry. I am so ashamed of myself. I...I don't know why I said those things. I didn't mean any of them!"

"Then why did you say them?" Sharpay asked icily.

"I was angry. That you were talking about me to Ryan behind my back. So I wanted you to know how it felt. And I am so extremely sorry. I feel horrible and I really hope you would forgive me even though I probably don't deserve it." Gabriella had started crying. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and Sharpay suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

"Gabriella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say those things it's just that it's always you who has the center of attention and everyone is always talking about how perfect you are," Sharpay said plainly.

"Perfect? You think I'm perfect? I don't know why everyone says that! I try hard and have to work to do what I do. I'm not perfect. Remember what happened yesterday? A perfect person wouldn't do that to their best friend," Gabriella said looking down.

"Gabby, I...I forgive you," Sharpay said. Gabriella looked up and her face brightened.

"You seriously do?"

"Yes Gabs. I do." Gabriella pulled Sharpay into a hug and moments later released her.

"Thank you so much Sharpay. And don't forget that I didn't mean a single thing I said yesterday. None of that is true. You know that right?"

"Yeah, I know you don't mean that," Sharpay lied. She was convinced that Gabriella meant everything she said. Why else would she say it if she didn't mean it? Gabriella didn't mean any of the insults but Sharpay refused to believe that. "Come on. Let's go find everyone else." And the two friends descended down the hall looking for their friends.

--

"Hey guys!" Sharpay said happily as she walked up to Troy, Chad, Taylor, Kelsi, Jason, Ryan and Zeke.

"Hey Sharpay. How did things go at the house this morning?" Ryan asked.

"Pretty good. It's not like I've never been alone before, Ryan. Everything was fine," Sharpay said with a small laugh.

"Come on guys. Let's get to homeroom," Troy said grabbing Gabriella's hand and leading the group to homeroom.

--

Sharpay's first two classes that morning went by quickly and all too soon, it was lunch time. Sharpay was dreading this because she didn't want to have to eat. And if she wasn't eating then everyone would ask her why and she didn't want to have to deal with that stress. So before lunch, Sharpay walked to her locker, put her books away and grabbed her celery sticks. They were in a brown paper bag so it looked like Sharpay had more food than just celery.

Sharpay started walkign down the hall and was soon joined by Gabriella. "Hi Gabs! What's up?"

"Not much. I'm so hungry though. I'm glad it's lunch," Gabriella said with a laugh. "So what do you have for lunch today?"

Just then Taylor walked up and joined them. "Hey guys!"

"Hi Taylor," Sharpay said, thankful for the distraction. Gabriella and Taylor started talking about the results of their science test, which both of them aced.

"What did you get Sharpay?" Taylor asked politely.

"A C-," Sharpay said looking forward like she didn't care, even though she really did.

"That's not..._that_ bad. I'm sure you'll do better next time," Taylor replied. She was trying to make Sharpay feel better but Sharpay just felt more stress.

"Oh! I totally forgot. I, uh, have to finish my english essay and I was supposed to do it today during lunch," Sharpay said as they neared the lunchroom. All Sharpay wanted to do was get away so she could be alone. "I'll just see you guys later!" And Sharpay hopped off down the hall.

She started heading towards the theater. When she finally arrived, she pulled open the door and started strolling down one of the aisles. She sat in the front row and started opening up her lunch bag.

"Hey Sharpay," a voice said. Sharpay jumped and dropped her lunch on the floor.

"Troy Bolton! You jerk! You scared me! Why are you even in here?" Sharpay demanded.

"Jeez, Shar. Sorry. I came in to practice lines because I can't after school. I have basketball practice. Let me help you with your lunch," Troy started walking forward to help Sharpay pick up her fallen food, but Sharpay quickly gathered up her celery before Troy noticed that's all she had. "So why are you in here?"

"That's none of your business Troy," Sharpay said after a minute because she couldn't think of a good lie. "Anyways, I think I'll just leave you here to rehearse your lines." Sharpay started heading towards the theater exit when Troy started talking.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sharpay said, turning around and flashing one of her smiles. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, because of everything that happened with you and Gabby yesterday. You know she didn't mean anything she said. She doesn't think you can't sing or act or...or any of the other stuff. Nobody thinks that Sharpay," Troy said seriously.

Sharpay was thankful that the theater lights were dimmed really low right now, that way Troy couldn't see that her eyes were shining with tears. "Yeah I know that. But I don't think it's any of your business!" Sharpay snapped before running down the aisle.

"Sharpay wait! I'm sorry!" Troy yelled, but Sharpay was already gone.

Sharpay had forgotten all about how hungry she was and she threw her lunch into the trash can outside of the theater. She didn't want to go back to the lunch room, so she headed to the nearest bathroom and locked herself in a stall, trying to calm herself down. After ten minutes, Sharpay unlocked the stall, reapplied her make-up and then headed to her next class.

--

"Hey kids! How was school?" Mrs. Evans asked as her two children walked in the front door.

"Good Mom! How was work today? And your meeting this morning, how did that go?" Ryan asked as he walked into the kitchen where his mom was doing bills at the table. Sharpay walked in behind him and sat down at the table.

"It went really well. Your father is going to be home late tonight and I have to go to book club at six. So you two are on your own for dinner. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, mom's it's fine," Sharpay said, hiding her enthusiasm really well. "I'm just going to go to my room to do my homework. Have fun at book club!" Sharpay bounded up the stairs as quick as possible and started her homework.

After an hour and a half, Sharpay was finished with her homework. It was almost five, so she and Ryan didn't have to eat for an hour. Sharpay logged onto her computer and checked her email. She had three new messages. The first was from Gabriella, asking Sharpay if she wanted to sleepover on Saturday night. Sharpay quickly replied back with an ok and that they'd talk more about it at school tomorrow. The next was a reminder from Ms. Darbus that rehearsal was on Monday, after school until five. The final one was from Troy. Sharpay scoffed, opened the email and read it. Basically, it was just Troy apologizes for today and that he didn't mean to hurt Sharpay's feelings. Sharpay emailed him back saying that he didn't hurt her feelings and that's she forgives him even though he didn't really do much, even though Sharpay was upset that he reminded her about yesterday.

It was 5:17 and Sharpay had nothing to do. She decided to do some exercise, so she shoved her feet under her bed and started doing sit-ups.

--

"223...224...225," Sharpay counted. She had been doing sit-ups for the last forty-five minutes when she heard a knock on her door. She wiped the thin band sweat from her forehead and opened her door.

"Hey Shar. I was wondering what you wanted to do for dinner," Ryan said, walking into her room and sitting down in her computer chair.

Sharpay walked over and sat on her bed and said, "I don't really care Ryan. I'm not all that hungry anyways." Of course, Sharpay was lying again but Ryan didn't know that. "I had such a big lunch today. Since I was on my own this morning I got to make my own breakfast and it was really big. So I'm not all that hungry."

"Then why didn't I see you at lunch?" Ryan asked skeptically.

"Didn't Taylor and Gabriella tell everyone? I had to finish my english exam," Sharpay replied. "You just make whatever you want and if there are some leftovers and I get hungry, I'll eat it later, ok?"

"Alright then. Sounds good. I'll cook some noodles and pesto and leave some for you," Ryan said. "See you later Sharpay."

"Bye Ryan," Sharpay said shutting her door. She couldn't believe that she had lied again. She hated this guilty feeling she had, but if she was going to become skinny she was going to have to lie a little bit. Sharpay's stomach started rumbling so she walked into her bathroom and filled up a glass of water and downed it within seconds. She did this four more times, like she did at breakfast, and soon felt full. Like this morning, she had tricked her body into thinking it was full.

Since Sharpay was in the bathroom, she decided to weigh herself. She removed her shirt and jeans and stepped on the scale. 118.5 it read. Sharpay groaned. _"I'm so hungry and I've only lost one pound! But if this is what it takes, I'll do it. I don't want Gabriella and Troy and my dad and everyone else thinking I'm huge. Soon enough I'll be skinny." _Sharpay decided to change into her pajamas (blue and red flannel bottoms and a white t-shirt) and then went to brush her teeth. It had been fifteen minutes since Sharpay had weighed herself but she wanted to see if she had lost anymore weight. Within moments it read the same thing as before. Sharpay was so upset with herself. After realizing that she hadn't lost anymore weight, she decided to do 250 more sit-ups and 100 push-ups before allowing herself to go to bed.

* * *

**Author's Note:** REVIEW! Haha, so what did you think? Like the chapter? Was the ending to abrupt? Input please!! Review? Pretty please? If you read, please review!! 

Oh and if anyone can figure out this riddle my sister told me, I'll dedicate my next chapter to you. Only one guess though. Here it is:

What makes you happy if you say it, but sad if somebody else says it?


	6. Chapter 5

**Painfully Perfect**

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, no. I don't own HSM. Or The Notebook.**  
**

**Author's Note:**** Ah, the long awaited update!!! I swear I've re-written this chapter at least four times, so I hope you like it! Haha, thank you so much for everyone who reviewed last chapter. This chapter is _sort_ of long, I guess.**** Anyways, Enjoy!****  
**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The next morning Sharpay woke up to her alarm beeping and her whole body aching. She threw her hand down on her alarm clock and turned it off before dragging herself into the bathroom. For Sharpay, it felt like hours to get to the bathroom, but it was only a couple of minutes. Right away Sharpay swallowed two ibuprofen with two tall glasses of water. Next, Sharpay removed her sweatpants and tank top, stepped on the scale and waited. Eventually when Sharpay looked down it read 118. Sharpay sighed sadly and hopped in the shower.

--

Sharpay was wearing a khaki skirt with a white long-sleeved shirt and had her hair half up. As she headed down the stairs she started thinking of excuses to get out of breakfast.

"Good morning Sharpay!" Mr. Evans said happily to his daughter.

"Good morning dad," Sharpay replied cheerily.

"Morning Shar! We are having pancakes, sausage and melon for breakfast. How many pancakes do you want?" Mrs. Evans asked politely.

"Oh mom, that's so sweet. But, uh, I didn't eat dinner with Ryan last night because I was so full from lunch. But I got really hungry late last night. So at 3:30 this morning I went and had a bowl of pasta and pesto. So I'm still full from that. Sorry Mom," Sharpay said sincerely.

"Oh, well no problem. We'll have plenty in case you get hungry."

"Thanks, Mom," Sharpay said sitting down at the table. Ryan came rushing down the stairs for breakfast just as soon as his mother put the food on the table.

"Morning everyone!" Ryan said happily. "Breakfast looks delicious Mom." Sharpay watched jealously as Ryan took a huge bite of his pancakes that had been smothered in syrup. She was so hungry but couldn't ruin her progress. She grab two slices of melon and slowly took a large bite of one of the pieces. Sharpay didn't chew it, she just let it sit in her mouth as she pretended to chew. She sucked all the juices out of it and then when no one was looking she grabbed her napkin and pretended to wipe her mouth as she spit her food into it.

"Well mom, breakfast was great but Shar and I have to go! We'll see you and dad after school," Ryan said standing up from his chair. Sharpay was zoning out and only snapped out of it when she heard Ryan yell her name from the front door. She quickly kissed her parents goodbye on the cheek and rushed to the car.

"Sorry Ryan. I zoned out."

"Yeah, I could tell," Ryan said with a laugh as they drove off to school.

--

"Hey guys!" Ryan said happily to his friends. "What's up?"

"Talking about basketball!" Chad said enthusiastically.

"And boring us girls," Taylor said with a fake yawn.

"Yeah, us girls will see you guys in homeroom," Gabriella said. "Come on Shar. We can talk about our sleepover."

The four girls, Taylor, Gabriella, Sharpay and Kelsi, walked to homeroom and Sharpay was feeling dizzy. She was extremely relieved when they finally made it to homeroom so she could sit down.

"So," Gabriella started,"tomorrow I was thinking you guys could sleepover. My mom already said it was okay. Taylor your mom said yes right?"

"Mhm. She'll drop us off around five thirty."

"Us?" Gabriella questioned.

"Well, my mom said yes too! So I'm carpooling with Taylor," Kelsi announced excitedly.

"How about you Shar?" Gabriella asked.

"Sure. My parents won't care," Sharpay said nonchalantly.

"We can give you a ride if you want Sharpay," Taylor offered.

"No, that's fine. I'll just meet you guys at Gabs." Sharpay smiled and turned her attention to Gabriella who started speaking.

"My mom said that the guys can come over too, but just till eleven or so. It should be fun!" The bell rang and the rest of the students in Ms. Darbus's homeroom filed in.

"Hello ladies," Chad said coolly. "What did you talk about?

"Just a sleepover I'm having at my house on Saturday for girls _only_. But my mom said you guys can come over till eleven," Gabriella replied as she pointed at Troy, Chad, Ryan and Zeke.

"Score!!!" Chad exclaimed, high-fiving Zeke. "We didn't have plans yet, now we do!"

"Okay, someone's way hyped up about this," Taylor said with a giggle.

Chad put his hand to his heart and said, "That hurts babe."

Everyone started cracking up at Chad, who joined in on the laughter, and only did they stop when Ms. Darbus yelled at them to be quiet so she could do announcements.

--

That day went by very quickly to Sharpay. She was glad when she could finally go home. All day her stomach had been rumbling and she kept getting extremely light-headed and dizzy.

Sharpay hopped into the car with Ryan as he drove them home. "Is anything wrong Sharpay?" Ryan's voice asked, bringing Sharpay out of her thoughts.

"No, not really. Why?" Sharpay replied.

"You just seem quiet. That's all." Ryan said and shrugged it off.

When the twins arrived home, Sharpay yelled a hello to her mom before heading upstairs to her room. She walked into her bathroom, locking the door behind her. She pulled off her skirt and shirt and stared at herself in the mirror. Sharpay was very upset by how she looked. Her collarbone was prominent and you could still see the faint outlines of her ribs poking at her skin. But that isn't what Sharpay saw. All she saw was fat and extra weight and she was convinced that's what everyone else saw. She turned away from the mirror and stepped on the scale. 117.5 pounds it read moments later. Sharpay was dismayed by her appearance as she pulled her clothes back on. She headed back to her room and did her homework for the next two hours. Only moments after she finished, her stomach growled at her.

Sharpay, who nearly fell over when she stood up, walked swiftly down the stairs and headed to the kitchen. She was surprised that it was empty but saw a note on the kitchen table from her mom. "Hey guys! Sorry I'm doing this again, but you're on your own for dinner because your father and I are going up to your Aunt's cabin. We'll be back late Sunday night so you're on your own for the weekend. Call us if you need anything. Love, Mom."

Sharpay squealed with excitement as she turned to the fruit basket on the far end of the counter. She was so hungry but didn't want to eat anything loaded with calories or fat. She eventually grabbed the smallest green apple they had and grabbed a knife and plate from the cabinets. Sharpay then cut the apple into quarters and grabbed the smallest one before devouring it. Savoring every bite, Sharpay's stomach groaned. She decided she would eat only one more quarter and save the other half for dinner. Quickly shoving another quarter of apple into her mouth, Sharpay grinned to herself. She cleaned up the kitchen as she put her apples in the fridge. Sharpay hopped up to her room and quickly feel asleep under her white down comforter.

--

The next morning Sharpay woke up to the sound of sizzling bacon and the smell of scrambled eggs. She felt a sharp pang in her hungry stomach and grabbed the wall for support as she got out of bed. Moments later, Sharpay entered the bathroom and weighed herself. 117. Sharpay tried to uncover a smile but it turned out looking like a weak grimace. With no hope, Sharpay jumped into the shower and turned the water the hottest it would go, letting the boiling water scald her.

After Sharpay stepped out of her shower and wrapped a towel around herself, her bathroom felt like a sauna. She slowly stepped over to her closet and pulled out a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a white tank-top with a floral design, along with a light blue hoodie. Sharpay quickly changed into these clothes, brushed her hair, applied a little make-up and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

"Morning Shar!" Ryan exclaimed from the living room where he was eating his bacon, eggs and hashbrowns. "You finally decided to join me," he joked. "There's lots more eggs and stuff in the pans on the stove if you want any. You can come join me in here if you want."

"Thanks for making breakfast Ryan. I think I'll just eat in here though," Sharpay said while scooping up some eggs, bacon and hashbrowns onto her plate. Sharpay set the plate down on the center island and went to grab a fork and a glass of water. When she eventually settled into her seat she stared at the food in front of her. _"I can't eat this. I'll gain all the weight I've lost back. But Ryan's right there. He's going to notice." _Sharpay thought to herself, but then she had an idea. "So Ryan, what are you up to today?" Sharpay called from the kitchen. As she said this Ryan stood up from the living room, turned off the morning news and walked into the kitchen with his empty plate and cup.

"Well, I'm going to Gabriella's tonight, like you are. But this afternoon I'm probably hanging out with Troy and Zeke at the gym. Then I'll probably drive over to Gabriella's with them if I don't come back home." Ryan opened up the dishwasher and put his dishes in the correct spots before shutting the door. "Why aren't you eating your breakfast Shar?"

Sharpay, who had already come up with a lie looked down at her plate then up at Ryan. "This is my second helping of stuff, Ryan!"

"Okay. Sorry. Would you mind cleaning the kitchen up? I've gotta go shower," Ryan pleaded.

"Sure no problem," Sharpay said with a smile.

"Thanks, your a doll!" Ryan said as he walked out of the kitchen. Sharpay listened as she heard him walk up the stairs and waited until she heard the shower running before getting up. She opened up the cabinet under the kitchen sink, pulled out the garbage can and pushed all of her food off of the plate and into the garbage. Sharpay rinsed off her plate and put it into the dishwasher, along with her cup and fork. She packed up the leftovers and then rinsed the pans before setting them into the dishwasher. After starting the dishwasher, Sharpay wiped down the counters and the center island before grabbing the rest of her apple from the night before out of the fridge. Savoring every bite of the last half of the apple, Sharpay threw the bag away and headed upstairs.

--

"Hey Sharpay! I'm heading out," Ryan called to Sharpay who was in her room picking out clothes.

"Where are you going? I thought you weren't going to the gym till later."

"Well we are. We're gonna go hang out at Chad's for awhile, then hit the gym and get lunch and stuff. So I'll probably meet you at Gabriella's later on."

"Okay, see you tonight. Bye Ry!"

"Later Shar!" Sharpay heard the door slam and then kept picking out clothes to bring to Gabriella's. A half an hour later, it was 10:30 and Sharpay was all packed to go to Gabriella's. She was bored and didn't know what to do to make the time go by quickly so she decided to straighten her hair. That took about forty-five minutes and Sharpay still didn't know what to do. She turned off the straightening iron and unplugged it to let it cool and then turned to the scale. Sharpay removed her jeans and sweatshirt and stepped on the scale. 117. _"I haven't lost any weight since seven this morning?"_ Sharpay thought to herself, outraged. In a huff, she jumped off of the scale, put her jeans and sweatshirt back on and went to go lie down in her bed. Sharpay noticed that her hands and feet were freezing so she tucked herself under her comforter and quickly fell asleep.

--

Sharpay woke up to her phone beeping over and over. She pulled herself up so she was sitting on her bed and started moving her hands around trying to find her beeping cell phone. _"Eight missed calls?! What time is it?" _Sharpay looked over at her clock and saw that it was seven. She was supposed to be to Gabriella's an hour and a half ago. With no new messages or voicemail, Sharpay jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. She took a brush to her hair and made it look perfect again, reapplied her make-up then grabbed a pair of shoes out of her closet. As she slipped them on she was overcome with a spell of dizziness, causing her to grab the wall to support her. Once it passed, she grabbed her bag and went as quickly as she could out of her room, down the stairs and into her car.

As Sharpay drove to Gabriella's, she noticed her heart was beating really fast. Too fast for it to just be nerves or anxiety. As she pulled into Gabriella's driveway she turned off the ignition and rested her head against the steering wheel, waiting for her heartbeat to slow. After ten minutes it had slowed down only a bit, so Sharpay grabbed her bag out of of the seat next to her, locked her car and headed up to Gabriella's front door. Sharpay rang the doorbell and heard a bunch of talking from behind the closed door.

"Sharpay!!!" Gabriella screamed as she opened the front door. "You're here, finally!" She added with a laugh.

"Oh yeah, I'm so sorry about that Gabs. I just lost track of time. So where is everyone?"

"Just downstairs. You can leave your bag up here. I'll just call everyone up here, because the pizza will be here soon." Gabriella walked through the living room and pulled open a door in the hallway and yelled "EVERYONE! Come up here! The pizza will be here any minute!" There was a loud commotion as the guys fought for who would get up the stairs first. Chad ran up the stairs, followed by Zeke, Ryan, Troy, Kelsi and Taylor bringing up the rear.

"Hey Shar! You're finally here!" Ryan said to his twin sister.

"Mhm. So what have you guys been doing?" Sharpay questioned.

"Well," Taylor started with a slight edge to her voice, "we tried to put The Notebook in, but Chad grabbed the DVD case and Troy took the remote. And they put on basketball!"

"You seriously think you were going to get us to watch The Notebook?" Zeke asked with a laugh.

"We were going to try!" Kelsi joined in. "It was an old game you were watching anyways!"

"Kelsi, that game was a classic," Troy added.

"And you girls know you loved it!" Chad exclaimed.

The quarrel was ended with the ring of the doorbell. Chad jumped up out of his chair followed by Troy and Zeke who all answered the door. Chad grabbed the pizzas out of the pizza man's hands, Troy handed him a twenty dollar bill and Zeke threw four dollars at him for tip. "Thanks!" Troy added hastily just as the door was shut.

The gang all entered the kitchen together, the boys pulling up chairs and the girls grabbing cups, plates and napkins. As everyone sat down and started eating, a million excuses started running through Sharpay's head. But before she could use one she was confronted.

"Sharpay," Troy ask with concern in his voice, making everyone at the table stop talking, "why aren't you eating anything?"

Sharpay, who was used to having all eyes on her, hated having her friends eyes burn into her. "I didn't know we were eating here, so I ate before I came. I'm sorry Gabriella."

Troy, Gabriella and Ryan, who all seemed most concerned, all let out of a sigh of relief. "That's totally okay Sharpay. We'll have popcorn and snacks and stuff tonight anyways. So save your appetite for that," Gabriella said with a laugh.

_"Thank goodness I got out of that one," _Sharpay said to herself, relieved.

After the everyone was full of pizza and the kitchen was cleaned up, Gabriella suggested that everyone go for a walk around the neighborhood. Everybody quickly agreed and they decided they'd go to the park and the guys could play a little basketball. As they were walking Sharpay could feel her heart fluttering. It wouldn't stop, it was fluttering over and over. She put a hand over her heart and walked a little slower, worried about what was going on. After walking slowly for about five minutes, she quickened her pace to catch up with Gabriella, Kelsi and Taylor; Ryan, Zeke, Troy and Chad walking behind.

"Hey, Sharpay!" Zeke called. "Why are you wearing a sweatshirt and jeans? It's like almost ninety degrees."

"Uh, I'm just kind of cold is all," Sharpay said will unzipping the front of her sweatshirt, making it look a little less obvious. "Is that a problem?" She joked.

"Nope, nope, just wondering," Zeke said with a laugh.

As the group of friends approached the park everyone started running to it, except Chad, Sharpay and Gabriella.

"Why aren't you running to the basketball court with everyone else, Chad?" Gabriella asked with a huge smile.

"Well, everyone will be fighting over me to be on their team, so it doesn't matter when I get over there," Chad joked.

"Okay, that doesn't really make sense, but whatever," Sharpay said with a laugh. As she laughed she felt herself get light-headed and she slowly fell to the ground.

"Sharpay?!" Gabriella and Chad said in shocked unison. "Are you okay?"

As Chad helped Sharpay up, Sharpay lied and said, "Yeah, I just tripped on these stupid shoes."

"You sure you're okay?" Chad double-checked.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine," Sharpay said as she bounded off towards the swingset by Kelsi and Taylor.

Chad and Gabriella shared a confused glance before heading off to the park.

* * *

**Author's Note: I think that was a good place to end. So, what did you think? REVIEW:D**  



	7. Chapter 6

**Painfully Perfect**

**Disclaimer:** Don't own.**  
**

**Author's Note:**** Hello!! Thanks for the reviews guys! I'd like to thank little.miss.sarcasm for helping me out when I'm having writer's block and for being an awesome reviewer! Individual review replies at the bottom. Here's the chapter...**

**Chapter 6**

Sharpay twisted up her swing again, lifted her feet off the ground and spun around in circles until she was dizzy, trying to ignore the fact that Chad and Gabriella were conversing in low whispers and were occasionally glancing at her. She stopped her swing from twisting and then started to swing slowly and looked to her right. Taylor and Kelsi were swinging as high as they could and flinging off their shoes, seeing who could get theirs to go farther.

"I WIN!" Taylor cried out with excitement. She slowed her swing and looked at Kelsi.

"Congratulations. But I'm still the grand champion." She smirked.

"Oh sure. Just because you won six times," Taylor trailed off.

Sharpay watched her two best friends as they bickered and couldn't help but smile. What she didn't notice was that Chad and Gabriella were staring at her once again.

"Do you think she's ok?" Chad asked with concern. He didn't really worry ever, but he had grown to love Sharpay like a sister and if something was wrong with her he had every right to be worried.

"I'm sure she's fine. She's Sharpay," Gabriella said, her tone serious. "I mean, she would tell us if something was going on wouldn't she?"

"I'd suppose so," Chad said as he tore his gaze away from Sharpay and positioned it on Gabriella. "Should we just stop worrying about it?"

"For now I guess. She would let us know if something was up." Gabriella and Chad dropped the subject for the time being and headed over to the basketball court.

--

An hour later Sharpay watched as Gabriella pulled back the blinds to peek out at the cars blurring past in the pouring rain on the street outside her house. The eight teenagers had returned to Gabriella's a half an hour ago when the rain started falling. "So what do you guys want to do?" Gabriella asked suddenly, closing the blinds.

"We could watch a movie," Troy suggested.

"Well we're going to make you watch The Notebook anyways, so would you want to do something before?" Kelsi said.

The four teenage boys looked to one another before saying in unison, "Yeah!"

"Let's play truth or dare!" Chad said mock evilly, a mischievous glint flashing in his brown eyes matched with a sinister smile on his face.

"We aren't playing truth or dare Chad!" Zeke burst out.

"Why not?" Taylor questioned.

"Just trust us when we say you do _not_ want to play truth or dare with Chad," Troy said.

"Okay, fine we won't play. But what else are we supposed..." Gabriella started, but faltered when the room suddenly got pitch black.

"Oh great, the power is out!" Sharpay said.

"Thanks Captain Obvious," Zeke said jokingly. "But what are we gonna do now?"

"Hey Gabs, when did your mom say she'd be home?" Troy questioned.

"Around eight. Which was like an hour ago. I don't think she's going to drive through this weather," Gabriella replied while pacing. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, flipped it open and dialed her mom's number before walking into the kitchen, muffling her voice.

A couple of minutes passed before Gabriella closed her phone and walked back into the living room. "Ok, well my mom is going to stay at my aunt's house for the night because she lives close to where my mom works. So she'll be home around ten or so tomorrow morning. She said to make yourselves at home, eat whatever you want, watch movies and stuff. And she doesn't want you boys driving home in this weather unless you absolutely need too. "

"I think we'll just have to call our parents. They'll be cool with it," Troy said, pulling out his phone.

After everyone had talked to their parents and were sure they were staying for the night, the gang sat around the living room talking.

"You guys are doing really good in rehearsal," Zeke said to Gabriella, Troy, Ryan and Sharpay. "Last rehearsal I went to was really good."

"Thanks!" Gabriella said sincerely. "I'm excited, of course. And I can't wait for our next Decathlon competition."

"I'm stoked for our next game!" Chad burst out, receiving laughs from his friends. The conversation turned to basketball and the four teenage girls gathered in a circle in the living room and talked, while the boys chatted about sports.

"Why does the conversation always turn to sports?" Taylor said gently.

"They are boys, what can we expect?" Kelsi replied.

"Sharpay, I was going to tell you earlier, I love your tank top!" Gabriella squealed. "Where did you get it?"

"Oh, on vacation in Mexico last summer. I barely ever wear it," she replied happily.

"It looks really good on you," Kelsi agreed.

"Yeah can I borrow it sometime?" Gabriella questioned.

"Sure. Just let me know when," Sharpay said with glee, as her stomach rumbled quietly.

"What size is it?" Gabriella wondered.

A flush crept onto Sharpay's cheeks, tinting them pink. "A medium."

"Oh ok. I wear a small...but that kind of _looks_ like a small, so I'm sure it'll be fine," Gabriella said. Noticing Sharpay's flushed cheeks and realizing what she said, Gabriella added, "Oh wow! Sharpay that came off really mean. I didn't mean it like that _at all. _I'm sorry."

"Oh it's fine," Sharpay lied, glad that she could act.

"You sure? I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, totally." As the subject turned, Sharpay zoned out and was lost in her thoughts. _"Hasn't anyone noticed that I've lost six pounds? Do I really look fat?"_ Sharpay looked around at her friends, wishing she could look like them, not realizing that how she saw herself was different from what everyone else saw. She was only snapped out of her thoughts when the boys came over and joined the girls' conversation.

"Ok, so it's almost ten thirty. What should we do? I don't think the power is going to come back on any time soon," Troy said.

"We could get the living room set up for bed, grab some flashlights and grab some snacks," Kelsi suggested.

After everyone agreed, people set out doing what they were supposed to. Taylor, Chad, Zeke and Sharpay started spreading out sleeping bags and pillows for everyone; Kelsi and Ryan went through the house together grabbing flashlights and Troy and Gabriella went to the kitchen to grab popcorn, chips and soda.

Thirty minutes later, after the girls had switched into pajamas everyone sat around in the living room snacking and chatting. The hours wore on and Sharpay was the first to fall asleep at midnight, followed closely by Kelsi and Zeke. Gabriella went to refill the bowls of snacks and returned to find that Ryan and Troy had fallen asleep. Gabriella set down the snacks and went to go lay in her sleeping bag by Troy. She was soon asleep, followed by Taylor. At two in the morning Chad finally fell asleep. The eight teenagers lay peacefully on the floor sleeping as the storm started to let up and the power turned back on.

--

At three thirty in the morning, Sharpay was tossing and turning in her sleep before abruptly waking up. She peered around the room and saw everyone was asleep and pop cans and bits of popcorn were strewn about the room. Flipping open her cell phone, Sharpay saw that it was three thirty and laid back down to go to sleep. But her body wouldn't let her. Instead her stomach lurched and groaned, her heart pounded and her head spun. Finally allowing herself to eat a little bit, Sharpay stood up from her sleeping bag, and quietly walked over Kelsi and Zeke and into the kitchen.

Sharpay looked around the kitchen before grabbing a banana from the fruit basket. She quickly peeled it and took a bite. Within seconds, the banana was gone and Sharpay was still hungry. She threw the peel away and opened up Gabriella's fridge, knowing that Gabriella wouldn't mind if she had a little something to eat. She pulled out a full pint of chocolate ice cream from the freezer and a bag of plain chips from the top of the fridge. After grabbing a spoon, Sharpay sat down at the table, pulled the lid off of the ice cream and slowly dipped her spoon into the cold cream. Putting the bite into her mouth, Sharpay grinned trying to remember when she had ever tasted anything this sweet. Sharpay decided to allow herself one more bite, but that bite soon turned into another and another and before Sharpay knew it the pint of ice cream was gone.

Still hungry, she ripped open the bag of chips and ate and ate until she couldn't possibly eat anymore. Realization soon hit Sharpay hard. _"I just ate a banana, a pint of ice cream and half a bag of chips in fifteen minutes. I'm going to gain back all that weight! That has to be at least ten thousand calories!"_ Sharpay thought to herself, over exaggerating. She cleaned up her mess but found it hard to move, considering how full she was. _"How could I let myself eat that much? I have no discipline. Unless..." _Sharpay let her thoughts flow freely in her head as her feet moved. In moments she found herself standing in front of the bathroom door. She quickly peered behind her, making sure no one was awake, before locking the bathroom door shut and turning on the faucet. Dropping to her knees in front of the toilet, she thought long and hard about what she was going to do and told herself she _had_ to do this. She put her pointer finger and middle finger close together and jammed it down her throat quickly. Removing her hand from her mouth as fast as she could, she watched as all the food she had just ate fell into the toilet, her throat searing. She stuck her fingers down her throat three more times, making sure her stomach was completely empty.

Sharpay looked down at the toilet one more time before flushing it away with no regrets. She grabbed a paper cup from Gabriella's sink, filled it with mouth wash and swished it around in her mouth before spitting it into the sink thirty seconds later. She refilled the cup with water and swished that around in her mouth before spitting it into the sink. Sharpay wiped her mouth with the back of her right hand and looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Exiting the bathroom, Sharpay quietly moved back into the living room, trying not to wake anyone. Zeke quickly sat up and whispered to Sharpay, "Were you just in the bathroom?"

"Yeah. I was just brushing my teeth."

"Okay," Zeke replied, laying back down and quickly falling asleep. Sharpay smiled inwardly to herself, proud that he bought her lie. Finally, Sharpay felt like she was in control, like she had some real control. And for the first time in days, Sharpay felt...happy.

* * *

**Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading guys! Any questions, comments, concerns-please review!!!**

**Individual Review Replies:**

**IZIBELLE:** Thanks so much! Hope you enjoyed this!

**marri:** Thanks so much for the review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Corbin's My Man:** Was this update soon enough? Probably not, but I hope you like this chapter!

**Stessa:** Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**court.and.ky:** You used our account to review! That totally made me laugh. Haha, yeah the gang is being a bit ignorant, but we don't need to sick the poultry on them...yet! Haha, but that's always a possibility. I like that idea, telling her she's thin, but like then she's like TOO thin. And you're mad mad mad mad? I'm sorry about that. I hope that's a good thing and I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks for the help! Talk to you soon!

**ForbiddenFiction:** Yeah, Gabriella was a total jerk but I had to have someone have the confrontation with Sharpay, so I just decided on Gabriella. But I didn't want her to turn into the mean girl so she came back apologizing. Hope you liked this!

**MiseryluvsDeath aka Fidele:** You think it's interesting? Thanks so much. Hope this chapter was too!

**BlackBeauty613: **Thanks so much for the review. Well this chapter answered your question of when she's going to start puking. Hope you liked it! Thanks for reviewing Rachel!

**Thanks so much for reading everyone!! Your input is always greatly appreciated!!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Painfully Perfect**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM.**  
**

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone!! Thank you so much for all the reviews! They mean a lot!!! Individual review replies at the bottom. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

The smell of sizzling bacon and eggs Benedict filled Sharpay's mind the next morning as she slowly woke up. Zeke had to be making a marvelous breakfast for his friends. Sharpay could hear chatter coming from the kitchen and quickly realized that she was the only person still sleeping. In the hopes of avoiding breakfast, she kept her eyes closed and pretended to still be sleeping. As she laid there on Gabriella's living room floor, the events of last night refilled her mind. How she had eaten all that food and the extreme measure she took to get rid of it. She swallowed and her throat was sore making part of Sharpay felt guilty, but a little voice in her mind was telling her that she hadn't done anything wrong, that it was the right thing to do. She listened to her friends talking in the kitchen as she pretended to sleep.

"Should I go wake Sharpay up?" Zeke questioned.

"Nah, let her sleep. She'll wake up on her own accord or she'll end up being cranky," Ryan said.

"So what's everybody up to today?" Taylor asked sweetly between bites.

"We've got basketball practice at two," Troy said pointing his fork at him, Chad and Zeke. "Until five."

"Should we go shopping?" Kelsi asked Gabriella and Taylor.

The two friends looked at each other, turned back to Kelsi and replied, "YES!"

"Jeez, thanks for making me deaf Tay," Chad groaned, rubbing his ear.

"No problem sweetie," she replied, giving Chad a kiss on the cheek, making him beam.

"This eggs Benedict is really good Zeke!" Gabriella squealed.

"Thanks. The eggs are perfect today with the combination of canadian bacon and hollandaise," he replied with a smile. Troy and Chad just stared at their friend with confused looks as the three girls tried to stifle their giggles. After everybody had finished breakfast and the kitchen was clean, Sharpay decided to "wake up." She sat up and stretched, giving a fake yawn.

"Morning sleepy-head," Ryan said, messing up his sisters' hair. "I'm surprised you slept so late. It's already 10:30."

"Just really tired is all. So what's going on today?" Sharpay asked her friends.

"The guys' have basketball practice and we were thinking us girls could go shopping," Gabriella answered from the couch, where she sat snuggled against Troy.

Sharpay felt self-conscious about going shopping with her friends, but tried to put the thought out of her mind. "I'd love to," she said through gritted teeth. "What time are we planning on going?"

"Probably around two, so everyone can shower and stuff," Gabriella said at the exact same moment that her mother walked in the garage door.

"Gabi, sweetie! I'm home!" Ms. Montez called through the house. After removing her shoes, she ventured into the living room where the eight teenagers sat. "Oh, good morning everyone. How was your night?"

"Good," the teens replied in unison. "The power went out after I got off the phone with you, though," Gabriella added.

"It went out at your Aunt's too. What are you kids up to today?" Ms. Montez asked with mild curiousity.

"I think us girls are going shopping. Is that okay mom?"

"Mhm, no problem dear. Well have fun today kids. I've got to go change and go back to work. I'll see you later tonight Gabs," she said happily as she exited the room and headed up the stairs.

"You're mom is so sweet Gabi!" Taylor said.

"Thanks Taylor," Gabriella said with a laugh.

"Well I better get going," Zeke said as he went to put on his shoes. "Me too. Hey Zeke can I get a ride?" Chad added.

"I'm getting one with Troy, so if it's fine with him," Zeke told his curly haired friend.

"Of course it is. But I've gotta take Taylor and Kelsi home too," he said with a laugh.

"It'll be a full car, that's okay. It'll be fun!" Zeke laughed. "Thanks so much for having me over Gabs," he said as he pulled her into a light hug.

"No problem. See you guys tomorrow at school! And I'll see you girls at Taylor's in a couple of hours!" Gabriella said as she waved to all of her friends.

Sharpay waved back to her friend as she got into the car with Ryan. As they drove off they settle into a comfortable silence, only to be punctured by Ryan. "That was fun wasn't it?"

"Yeah tons! So do you think mom and dad will mind if I use the platinum card when I shop today?"

"No, I don't," Ryan replied as Sharpay's stomach rumbled lightly. "You hungry Sharpay? We can drive through somewhere if you want."

"No, I'm not really hungry Ry," Sharpay lied.

"How can you not be? You didn't eat a thing at Gabi's!"

"Ryan! I said I'm not hungry!!" Sharpay snapped causing Ryan to swerve a little bit on the road. "If I do get hungry I'll eat at home. Quit monitoring me!"

"Whoa Shar. Can you say mood swings? Is anything wrong?" Ryan asked, his voice heavy with concern.

"Everything is fine. Why wouldn't it be?" Sharpay said, turning her face away from her brother to avoid his stare.

"I'm your brother, your twin! I think I can tell if something is wrong."

"Well nothing is so just drop it," Sharpay said icily. The two sat in an awkward silence until they reached home. At once Sharpay grabbed her bag from the car, slammed the door and marched into the house, leaving Ryan to park the car in the garage. She huffed up to her room and plopped down onto her bed, grabbed a pillow and screamed into it until her lungs gave out.

Gasping for air, she slowly sat up and saw the scale through the open bathroom door. She quickly got out of her seat and locked the bathroom door behind her as she entered. Doing the usual routine, she stripped down to her underwear and bra and discreetly stepped on the scale. 115. "_Now we're making progress,_" a voice in Sharpay's head said as she pulled her clothes back on.

--

"Okay Ryan, I'm going to Taylor's now," Sharpay called to her brother as she entered the kitchen. Ryan sat at the table with a plate of food in front of him and a plate of food to his right. "Do you want lunch before you go? I made you some."

Sharpay looked at the food longingly but when she looked at her brother she smiled. "No, I'm not all that hungry. I'll eat at the mall or Taylor's if I do get hungry, _okay_?"

Ryan let out a small forced laugh. "Okay, see you tonight."

"Bye Ry!" Sharpay called as she exited the house and approached her car.

--

An hour later, Sharpay found herself in a store at the mall, looking at clothes to try on with her three best friends. Sharpay wandered next to Gabriella, who was sorting through a rack of summer dresses. "Oh, I love this one!" Gabriella squealed as she pulled out a white knee-length dress made of terrycloth. "It's so adorable!"

"That is really cute! It'd look fab on you!" Sharpay complimented to her friend.

"You think so?" Gabriella asked as she stood in front of a mirror, holding the dress up to her small body as Sharpay nodded. "I'm gonna go try it on!" She squealed as she bounded off to find an empty dressing room. Sharpay giggled at her friend as she walked over to Kelsi and Taylor who wear looking at tank-tops.

"See, I like the blue one _and _the red one. I can't choose," Kelsi groaned to Taylor as Sharpay walked up.

"I would definitely go with the blue one. What do you think Sharpay?" Taylor questioned.

"Definitely the blue one. It would make your eyes pop and the white polka-dots are really cute," Sharpay said airily.

"Thank guys! Be back in a minute!" Kelsi exclaimed as she made her way to an employee to ask where an open dressing room would be.

"So have you found anything you like Tay?" Sharpay asked as she considered trying on a pink tube top, but decided against it.

"Well I found this really cute pair of jeans that I love but I really want a shirt to go with it," Taylor replied. "Can you help?"

Sharpay laughed, knowing her friends loved her advice when it came to fashion. "I would love to."

As the girls walked over to another rack of shirts, Gabriella walked out of the dressing she was just in, dress in hand. "I absolutely love this! It looks great on me, just like you said it would Shar."

"That's fantastic!" Sharpay exclaimed as she looked through shirts for Taylor. "Hm, too bright...too short...too many designs...perfect!" She said as she pulled out a shirt for Taylor. "This will go perfectly with your jeans."

"What would we do with out you Shar?" Taylor squealed as she hugged her blond friend. "I'll be right back."

As Taylor went to go try on her shirt and jeans, Kelsi came out of the dressing room looking a little bit flustered.

"Well the shirt is great! I love it! But that saleslady is a grouch! She laughed at me for being short," Kelsi reported to Sharpay and Gabriella.

"Oooh, I like your shirt. And she was a grouch. She snapped at me for 'taking to long in the dressing room.' She seriously needs to take a chill pill," Gabriella agreed.

Sharpay looked over to the saleslady who her friends were complaining about. She was tall and skinny with light brown hair. Sharpay redirected her attention when Taylor came back out. "Sharpay, it's looks fantastic! I don't know how I ever shopped without you," Taylor said with a large smile and laugh.

"Anytime girls," Sharpay said as she pulled a pair of light wash skinny jeans off of a rack. "I'm gonna go try these on."

Sharpay ambled over to the saleslady. "Are there any open rooms?" She asked as polite as she could.

"Yes there are but are you honestly going to try _those_ on? Look at your hips. They'd never fit," the saleslady said with a smirk. "You can use this room." Sharpay pushed past the saleslady and entered the dressing room, locking the door behind her and throwing the jeans down onto the floor. Sharpay turned to look at herself in the mirror. _"I don't have big hips, do I?" _Sharpay thought to herself. As she looked in the mirror, she saw her hips really wide, her stomach bulging and her face round. Tears filled Sharpay's eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. She sat down on the floor of the dressing room and calmed herself down.

"Hey Shar! Are you going to get the jeans?" Taylor asked as Sharpay returned to the group.

"Nah, they aren't _that_ cute. I'm not a big fan of light wash skinny jeans," she replied with a forced laugh, even though she hadn't tried the jeans on.

"Well, we all purchased our stuff, so if you were done we were thinking we could go to the food court. What do you think?" Gabriella informed Sharpay.

"Sounds great," Sharpay smiled and walked with her friends to the food court.

--

"Is that all you're going to eat Shar?" Taylor asked as she looked at Sharpay's small salad and water.

"Yeah, 'cause I ate a huge lunch with Ryan before I left my house," Sharpay lied as she stab her fork into a small piece of lettuce.

"If you get hungry you can have some of my lunch," Gabriella said as she pointed to her burger and fries.

"Thanks Gabs, but I'm sure I'll be fine," Sharpay replied as she pretended to bring her forkful of lettuce to her mouth. When Gabriella looked away, Sharpay put her fork back down on her plate as she pretended to chew.

"I'm so not ready for that chem test on Wednesday," Kelsi said between bites of sandwich.

"Gabi and I can help you study if you want," Taylor offered as Gabriella nodded.

"Really? That'd be fantastic. Wanna study with us Shar?" Kelsi asked.

"I'd love to 'cause I think I'd fail if I didn't have some help. We can study at my house if you want," Sharpay said before taking a tiny sip of water.

"Sounds great!" Gabriella said as she popped three fries into her mouth.

Sharpay let her mind wander as her three friends talked. She stared greedily at their food, her stomach aching from hunger pains, but she knew she couldn't mess up her diet.

"Sharpay?" Kelsi questioned. Sharpay snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at her tiny friend.

"Whoa sorry. I was just thinking. What's up?"

"We're ready to go if you are," Taylor informed her sweetly.

"Okay, yeah. I'm not hungry anyways." Sharpay stood up and threw her salad and water into the trash. She turned to her friends and they headed out of the mall.

--

"Hi sweetie!" Sharpay's mom yelled from the kitchen as she heard the front door shut. Sharpay walked into the kitchen and her mom faced her. "How was shopping?"

"It was really fun!" Sharpay said, the smells of the kitchen making her mouth water. "How was the cabin? I thought you weren't getting back till late."

"Oh we decided to leave a little earlier. It was really fun! Your cousins miss you guys!" Mrs. Evans said as she stirred the pot of soup on the stove. "They're going to be visiting in a couple of weeks I think."

"Fun! I'd love to see them. So what are you making?"

"Chicken and dumplings, rolls and fruit salad. Are you hungry?"

"I think I'm going to pass on dinner, mom. I didn't know you were going to be back home so I ate a _huge_ meal at the mall," Sharpay told her mom.

"Okay sweetie. If you get hungry, there'll be leftovers in the fridge. And you're welcome to join us!"

"Thanks mom!" Sharpay called as she headed up the stairs. She entered her room and was surprised to find Ryan in there on her computer.

"Why are you in my room?" Sharpay questioned her brother as she sat down on her bed.

Ryan spun the chair around in circles before stopping to face his sister. "My computer crashed and I had to finish up some homework. So how was the mall?"

"Great. I didn't buy anything but it was fun to hang out with the girls."

"Did you eat anything?" Ryan questioned, his voice serious.

"What are you doing? Monitoring my eating habits?" Sharpay snapped, furious that her brother was concerned about her eating. "And for your information I _did_ eat. You make it seem like I never do."

"I'm just wondering Sharpay. I'm your _twin_ and I just got concerned that you didn't eat at Gabriella's yesterday."

"It's not my fault that I ate before I came to Gabi's or that I was still sleeping when you were eating breakfast. Someone could've woken me up but you told Zeke not too. It's not like I _hadn't_ eaten that day. And for your information Ryan, it's not nice to nose around in anybody else's business. And if you must know, I ate a _huge_ meal at the mall. I'm so sick of you acting concerned," Sharpay steamed to her brother, what she just said mostly made up of lies.

Ryan looked taken aback by his sister's outburst. He wasn't trying to 'nose around in her business', he was just concerned for his sister. "I'm sorry Shar. I'll drop the subject. And how do you know that I told Zeke not to wake you up?"

Sharpay looked around her room, trying to avoid his last question. "I don't know, subconsciously? Get out of my room Ryan!"

"I've gotta print this!" Ryan said pointing to the computer.

"I'll give it to you later. Just leave!" Sharpay screamed. Ryan jumped out of the chair as if he had just been shocked and ran out of Sharpay's room, closing the door behind him.

Sharpay ran into her bathroom and buried her face in a towel as she screamed as loud as she could. She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror, frowning. She turned to weigh herself, stepping on the scale. 114.5. _"Needs some work,"_ a voice in Sharpay's head said. 

"Yeah, it does," Sharpay whispered to herself as she exited the bathroom.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I decided to stop there. So what did you think? I hope you liked it! I'm trying to get better about updating sooner. Review! 

So who saw HSM2? I did! I personally found it extremely cheesy but I still really liked it. Did anyone else think it was just a bit conceited that Troy gave Gabriella a necklace with a 'T' on it? I did. Haha, Gotta Go My Own Way was pretty sad but it's a great song. I'd love to hear what you guys thought of it!

**Review Replies:**

**Corbin's My Man: **Awh :(. I've done that before too but I'm glad you don't go this drastic and your mom makes you eat. Thank you so much for reading!

**MiseryluvsDeath aka Fidele: **Thanks for saying that! It means a lot to hear that I'm doing well on this. I know a couple of people woh have gone through this same thing. I'm trying to make this as realistic as possible because I don't want it to be something that happens really fast or anything like that, you know?

**BlackBeauty613: **Haha, your review made me laugh. I wasn't really trying to have it so that Sharpay was happy that she threw up, just more so that she was happy that she finally had some 'control.' So I hope that clears that up for you!

**LuciaAyala23: **Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter too. :) **  
**

**marri: **Yeah, Sharpay is making some stupid decisions and I feel bad for her too. Ha, thanks for reading!

**XxXxIcePrincessXxXx: **You love this story? Wow! Thanks a ton! I don't like that she's obsessing over her weight either but if she wasn't then there wouldn't really be a point to this story now would there be? Haha, I like your penname by the way!

**Stessa: **Hope this update was soon enough:) You liked the shirt conversation? Yay! I was hoping someone would like it. I needed to put another 'event' in there where Sharpay felt bad about herself. Ha that sounds bad but I think you know what I mean:)

**Mill1on: **You're addicted? YAY! Haha, thanks so much for reading. I hope this update was quick enough for you!

**little.miss.sarcasm: **You rock:) Yeah, Sharpay is ruining her life but I couldn't have had Zeke hear her throwing up just yet. But someone will eventually. I can't say who even though I think it's obvious in the trailer. Haha, and I will have someone find out. And you're right, it IS going to be sad when Ryan finds out. :( Oh and no problem about the author's note recognition. Anytime! Haha, I still can't get over the fact that you have a twin. Lol talk to you soon!

**LoLiVeR is LoVe: **I'm sorry you went through this. Yeah, don't follow Sharpay's example. Ha, thank you so much for reading!

**You guys rock! Thanks for everything! You're reviews inspire me!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Painfully Perfect**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM.**  
**

**Author's Note:** Hey everybody. **FIRST OF ALL: I want to apologize for the long time between updates and that this chapter isn't the best (in my opinion) and it's a bit choppy. Let's just say it's a filler chapter.** And please ignore any spelling errors cause I'm posting this late at night and don't have time to read through it. Haha, okay, I want to thank everyone for your reviews. They mean so much to me to know what you think! You guys rock! This chapter takes place **one week later**, so it's a Monday. Just a heads up in case there is any confusion. The individual review replies are at the bottom as always. Anyways, enjoy!

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**Chapter 8**

Sharpay sat in her room, staring at her science homework, her stomach rumbling. Her head would occasionally droop downward before she'd snap it back up so she wouldn't fall asleep. She glanced at her clock, seeing it was six-thirty. She had a half an hour before dinner. Staring at her final science problem, she quickly scribbled down the best answer she could come up with and shut her book. Suddenly her head dropped onto her bed and she lay passed out.

Twenty minutes later, Sharpay began to stir as she heard a knock on her door. Ryan entered her room and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Sharpay," Ryan whispered softly to his sister. "Wake up."

Sharpay slowly pulled herself up and looked into her brother's eyes. "What?" she asked irritably.

"I'm just letting you know it's time for dinner. So come on," Ryan said as he grabbed his sister's wrist and pulled her up. Sharpay was lighter than usual, something Ryan casually noticed.

"I want to sleep Ryan," Sharpay whined, her hair hanging limply around her face. "I'll eat later." She tried to pull herself from his grasp, but Ryan wouldn't let go.

"Just come eat, okay? Then you can go to sleep."

"Fine!" She snapped sharply at her brother and took off towards the stairs slowly, trying to stay balanced.

The smells of the kitchen filled Sharpay's mind, making her empty stomach groan. It had been another long week of barely eating for Sharpay. She was pleased with herself for losing five pounds last week, bring her weight to 109. But she wasn't getting the results she expected.

As Sharpay sat down at the table with her family, she stared at the food. That night for dinner they were eating steak, mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley. The family said grace, but all Sharpay could think about was the delicious food sitting in front of her, making her mouth water. _"Maybe I'll just eat a little bit." _Sharpay quickly grabbed the smallest piece of steak, a small spoonful of potatoes and three carrots and set them daintily on her plate. After eating the piece of steak and savoring it for as long as she could, she thought she saw Ryan looking at her but when she looked back at him he was staring at his plate. _"Maybe I can eat just a little bit more, just so Ryan doesn't get suspicious," _Sharpay thought, but it was just an excuse to herself to eat.

Sharpay shoveled her plate full of food and devoured every bite of it. Ryan gave a satisfied smile to himself and stopped worrying about Sharpay once and for all. His sister was back. At least, that's what he thought.

--

The next morning Sharpay woke up a half an hour later than she usually did and was still exhausted. It was six o'clock as she pulled herself out of bed and headed into the bathroom. Sharpay stretched as she removed her clothes to weigh herself and shower. _"109 still?" _Sharpay thought to herself as she swallowed, irritating her sore throat. She had made herself throw up again. Although Sharpay hated making herself throw-up, she had decided to eat this morning again, just to make sure Ryan wouldn't get suspicious. _"But only one more time."_ She hopped into the shower, letting the steaming water wash away all of her insecurities.

Twenty minutes later, Sharpay stepped out of her shower, wrapped a white fluffy towel around her body and headed to her closet to pick out her outfit for the day. It had taken ten minutes but she finally decided on a pair of dark wash skinny jeans matched with a blank tank top that hung loosely on her body and a white zip up hoodie.

"Good morning Sharpay!" Mr. Evans called happily to his daughter as she entered the kitchen.

"Morning Dad," Sharpay said cheerily as she sat down at the table. She looked across to her brother who smiled warmly at her before turning her attention to her mom, who entered the kitchen carrying a plate of French toast.

"Morning Mom!" Ryan squealed to the older woman.

"Morning sweetie!" Mrs. Evans said as she set the plate on the table and pulled out her chair. "Dig in!"

Sharpay's stomach growled at her as she loaded her plate with three large pieces of French toast, six pieces of sausage and three big spoonfuls of fruit. It took ten minutes, but Sharpay had devoured every morsel of food on her plate, her stomach feeling satisfyingly full. _"Maybe for once I can just be full...so it can be like I ate normally,"_ Sharpay suggested to herself.

_"You are so stupid! You can't just be full for once because you'll gain back all the weight you've lost! You know exactly what you have to do ,"_ the voice in Sharpay's head yelled to her.

"Oh Ryan, I forgot to print off your homework. I'll go do that quick and then we can go," Sharpay told her brother as she jumped up from the table. She walked as quickly as she could up the stairs and into her bedroom. Once she had clicked the print button, she started pacing the length of her room. Sharpay hated the fact that she had made herself throw up twice, but realized that if she ever "over-ate" she would have to suffer the consequence of getting rid of it.

She rushed into the bathroom, quickly locking the door behind her. Sharpay flipped the knob on the sink to make the faucet start running as she knelt down next to the toilet. Breathing in a heavy sigh, she stuck her forefinger and middle finger down her throat as far as she could and removed them as she felt her breakfast coming back up. The back of Sharpay's throat burned as the acid hit it. After repeating the gesture twice more, she flushed the toilet and felt a little guilty, but tried to push that out of her mind.

As Sharpay grabbed Ryan's homework off the printer, she popped a mint into her mouth and headed down the stairs.

--

"So how was basketball practice?" Gabriella asked Troy as they sat in homeroom by their friends.

"Great. I'm so pumped for our next game! How was shopping?" Troy asked with mild interest.

"Really fun! 'Cept for this saleslady who was a totally crab."

"I'm still mad that she mad fun of me for being short," Kelsi pouted, receiving a hug from Jason.

"But you _are_," Chad pointed out.

Taylor playfully smacked the back of Chad's head. "Ouch." Chad said rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry Kelsi," he quietly mumbled.

Kelsi giggled. "It's okay Chad. I forgive you."

His face lightened up as the bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom. The teenagers quickly exited the classroom and went to their next class. Gabriella, Taylor and Sharpay walked leisurely to math.

The three teenage girls entered their class just as the bell rang again. They quickly sat down in their assigned seats and turned to their teacher. "Good morning class. I hope everybody did their homework because today we are having a pop quiz." A smile crept onto the old lady's face, giving her an eerie look.

A chorus of groans and protest were silenced once the quiz was distributed. "When I say 'begin', you may flip over your test. You have forty-five minutes. We will grade these in class. This will count for five percent of your final grade for this quarter. No cheating. Begin!"

Sharpay looked down at her test and her mind went blank as the words in front of her blurred and then refocused. The problem showed a square with six circles inside and a triangle inside of that, along with what Sharpay was supposed to solve. "_If the area of each circle of the diagram is Pi divided by 4 and the distance between the center of the circles P and Q is the square root of 3, what is the area of ABCD not covered by the circles? How am I supposed to know?"_ Sharpay thought to herself as she reread the question. This was going to be a long test.

--

Sharpay sat around the lunch table with her friends, listening to their conversation.

"I'm so happy I aced that math quiz!" Taylor squealed to Gabriella.

"Me too! I was so worried I was going to fail!" Sharpay felt a pang of jealousy as she took a small bite out of her dry salad. "Oh, Sharpay! What did you get?"

Sharpay flashed a fake smile. "Not as good as you," She spoke through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I'm sure you didn't do that bad."

"Trust me, I did," Sharpay mumbled as she thought about the bold red C- that was stamped onto her test, helping herself to another bite of salad. "So do you guys want to come over again on Wednesday to study for chemistry like you did last week?" Sharpay asked as Kelsi joined the girls at the table.

"That'd be so much fun. I did really well on that test, so I think we should study together again," Kelsi replied to her friends.

"Sure! What time should we come over?" Taylor asked.

"You can just ride home with me after school," Sharpay said slowly as Troy, Chad, Ryan and Zeke sat down at the table. "Hey everybody! What's up?" Chad asked happily as he took a bite out of his sandwich. The group started making conversation as Sharpay just sat there and listened, occasionally taking a small bite out of her salad.

Sharpay's head was spinning so she rested it in hands. She stayed like that for a couple of minutes before she felt a warm hand touch her shoulder, causing her to jump. "You okay Shar?" Zeke asked to his friend.

Sharpay blinked a couple of times and looked at Zeke. "What? Oh yeah, I'm fine. I just have a little headache," she told him.

"Want me to take you to the nurse?"

"No Zeke," Sharpay said, putting emphasis on 'no', "I'm just fine." Zeke watched Sharpay closely and noticed her head slowly drooping. Sharpay quickly rested her head on her hand again as the room in front of her spun quickly, making her feel sick. "Shar are you sure your okay?" Zeke asked again quietly after a few minutes.

"Uh, I actually think I will go to the nurse," Sharpay said as she slowly pulled herself up. She swayed a little bit before steadying herself on her chair.

"Want me to walk you there?" Zeke said as he stood up.

"No, it's _fine_ Zeke. I can take care of myself," Sharpay said bitterly before turning to the stairs. Zeke watched Sharpay's retreating figure until he couldn't see her anymore and then slowly sat down.

--

"Sharpay, sweetie! It's time for dinner!" Mrs. Evans called while walking up the stairs to her teenage daughter.

Sharpay laid down under her comforter and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep but not far from falling asleep. "Sharpay?" Mrs. evans said sweetly as she walked into her daughter's room. "Aww." Mrs. Evans watched her "sleeping" daughter, tiptoed over to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Night sweetie," she whispered with care.

Five minutes later, Sharpay was positive her mom was upstairs as she yanked herself out of the comforter and slowly stood up. _Beep! Beep! Beep! _Sharpay's phone sounded, alerting her that she had new text messages. She ignored it as she shuffled into the bathroom. She was positive it was Zeke texting her the billionth time to ask if she was feeling better after going to the nurse. It annoyed her a lot, but she couldn't bring herself to text him back with a lie because she still felt guilty for making herself throw up instead of going to the nurse's office. Sharpay heaved a heavy sigh and stumbled a bit, regained her balance and stepped toward the bathroom scale.

Sharpay looked down and frowned with disappointment upon seeing the weight, 108.5, glare back at her. She approached the mirror, lifted up her light green t-shirt and stared at her reflection. She criticized every part of herself and pinched her stomach painfully. Her collarbone was prominent and you could see her top two ribs slightly poking out of her skin. Sharpay gave herself one last look of disgust before turning on her heel and heading to bed.

--

_THUD! _Troy and Gabriella watched as Sharpay slowly fell backward onto the stage, Ryan not being quick enough to catch her.

"That was great!" Ms. Darbus said as she stood up applauding. Ryan lifted his sister so she was standing upright as a large smile beamed across her face. Today Sharpay was the perfect actress, not Gabriella. "Let's take it from act two scene one."

The group of teenagers moved around the stage, the stagehands walking back and forth and the four friends taking a quick glance at their lines. "You did so good Sharpay!" Gabriella complimented happily.

"Yeah, it was fantastic! The show is gonna be great," Troy agreed. Sharpay's smile lit up the entire room. This was the best she had felt in weeks.

The large group of teenagers rehearsed for the next hour and half and then found themselves in the parking lot outside of school. "You guys wanna go grab a bite? To celebrate how good we did today?" Troy asked with a smile, wrapping his arm around Gabriella's shoulder.

"That'd be so much fun!" Ryan and Gabriella exclaimed in unison, resulting in a fit of giggles.

"Uh,why don't you guys go ahead? I've got a lot of homework," Sharpay said to her friends while staring at her shoes.

"Oh come on Shar! It'd be fun. You can do your homework anytime!" Gabriella pleaded.

"I really don't think I should..." Sharpay trailed off.

"Oh come on Shar! Please?" Ryan asked to his sister.

"Yeah Sharpay! Come on!" Troy said giving her his best sad look.

Sharpay scoffed. "Okay, fine..as long as it's not too long."

--

"La la la la la la," Gabriella sung to herself, sitting around Troy, Ryan and Sharpay, waiting for a waiter to come take their order.

"Hey. My name is Ashley. What can I get you today?" A tall blond waitress came and ask the four friends.

"I'm going to get a chocolate malt and a cheeseburger, hold the onions," Troy said, glancing at his menu.

"Make that two," Gabriella smiled.

"Actually, make that three," Ryan joined in.

"Can I get...a water and a chicken Caesar salad, hold the dressing," Sharpay said confidently.

"Sure! Your food will be up in a couple of minutes."

"You sure that's all you want Shar?" Ryan asked his sister.

"Yeah. I told you before I didn't even want come. I'm just not that hungry okay?"

"Okay, fine by me," Ryan said happily, buying his sister's lie. Gabriella eyed Sharpay for a moment before turning to Troy.

"You guys are going to have to help me. I can't get that first step down in act one," Troy groaned. Gabriella and Ryan fell into a fit of laughs, while Sharpay giggled quietly. "What? It's not funny!" Troy protested.

"Admit it, it's funny!" Gabriella exclaimed.

"Okay, maybe it is a little bit," Troy replied, a small grin tugging at his lips. "But I do need help with it."

"Come over on Friday and we can all work on it then hang out or something," Ryan offered.

"Sounds great!" Gabriella beamed, Troy nodding his head. Sharpay flashed a quick smile as she watched the waitress come over to the table with their food.

--

"Night guys! See you tomorrow!" Ryan called to Troy and Gabriella as Sharpay waved. "See, that was fun. And to think you were going to do homework," Ryan said in a teasing tone, ruffling his sister's hair. "I'm gonna head upstairs and take a shower! Night sis!"

Ryan bounded up the stairs as Sharpay walked to the garage, her leftover food in hand. Gabriella had insisted that Sharpay take her food home, considering she only had three small bites of it. Sharpay lifted up the lid of the garbage can and tossed the food container making a sounding thud at the bottom of the container. She smiled to herself and headed up to her room.

As Sharpay walked into her bathroom she hummed quietly in time with the water from Ryan's shower. Quickly removing her sweatpants and t-shirt, she stepped on the scale and looked downward. 108. _"Sharpay! You've barely lost any weight in the past three days. You know what to do. It will help,"_ the voice in her head called out to her. Sharpay slowly made her way to the toilet and dropped to her knees. Just as she stuck her fingers in the back of her throat, the bathroom doorknob twisted.

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**Author's Note: **Hey guys! I hope you liked it. Sorry for taking so long on the update. Please let me know what you think...I'm iffy about this chapter but it's what you think that matters. The next chapter is guarenteed a bit more drama so look forward to that. Oh and I'd like to thank Bj (**SoMuchForMyHappyEnding**) for being amazing and loving CamCam as much as I do. Also, little.miss.sarcasm because her reviews make me smile and she is always there to help and she gives the best advice on how to make "dramatic endings" and just cause I'm the author so I can give her recognition. Haha :)! 

**Review Replies:**

**ascii27: **Thanks so much. Haha I totally agree with you about the necklace. I think it's arrogant. Haha but I loved what you said about Sharpay and how she'd take one look at it and ask for an S. :) Hope you liked this!

**Lady Charity: **Yeah, I feel bad for Sharpay but I've got to be extreme with her "diet" or it wouldn't match the plot that much now would it? Haha, thanks for saying that you thinks it well written. That means a lot. I know who the first two people are who finds out...You'll have to wait and see. Hah, HSM2 was incredibly cheesy at parts but yes, satisfying all the same.

**marri: **Haha, bad Sharpay for lying! I'm glad you like it. They have it on your school records that you were anorexic:( I'm sorry about that. Uhm, eggs Benedict is like egg on english muffin with hollandaise sauce and baked alaska..how to describe it..I'm not sure but it's DELICIOUS. Haha.

**charmarctravis: **Wow thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad you like this story! It's always great getting a new reader. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)**  
**

**BlackxRose19: **That is such a wonderful compliment to hear that I write well. I really appreciate that a lot. I'm glad you like this! Hah yeah conceited with the T necklace Troy. Haha, I still find it weird how happy she is to wear a T necklace. Hah!**  
**

**Stacy: **Sorry for the long update! But I'm glad you just got into it! People will start finding out soon I think..In the next couple of chapters at least:)**  
**

**Pumpernickel Muffin:** I feel bad for Sharpay too! Sorry for the long update! Enjoy!**  
**

** Zashleyrocks and Zanessa sucks: **Hah your penname made me laugh :). Yeah the saleslady was a major pain but I described her as tall and skinny but she had no right to judge. Poor Shar! **  
**

**SweetSmiles16: **Thanks for liking how I take it slow. I was hoping people weren't getting sick of it. I hope you aren't mad that Ryan has..changed his views in this chapter. But people should start finding out soon. **  
**

**xocrazililkelox: **Thanks! Sorry for the long update period. Hah I hope you like it!**  
**

**Mill1on: **Are you excited you finally get to see HSM2 in a couple of days? Haha, you'll have to let me know what you think, especially about Troy and his T necklace. Haha, hope you really like this!**  
**

**dianananerz: **You think it's a cool story? YAY! Thanks for the review!**  
**

**penciltopaper: **I'm glad you love it! Sorry for taking forever to update. Do you like what's happening now? And thanks for the critique..I was trying to have it just be a pound a day at first..cause my friend was anorexic and lost a lot of weight right away then it got a bit harder to lose weight. But thank you! Enjoy!

**little.miss.sarcasm.: **Your reviews literally make my day. Haha well she did eat something this chapter..but that doesn't really count does it considering she got rid of it. Sorry. Yeah, I shouldn't have had it Sharpay walking around the mall happily but blah. I think I meant it more so that she was happy to be with her friends. And I'm really sorry I'm ruining Sharpay. I'm such a horrible person! Haha ;). Hmm, you'll have to wait and see who finds out after Gabi finds out!! Yeah she is being a meanie pants to Ryan. I love that he's concerned but uh..this chapter sort of changes it. :( Sowwy! Yeah evil saleslady makes me mad too! Sorry about her. And I love that you loved that I had Ms. Montez say "Mhm." That totally made me smile. I'm glad you loved it and YES let's talk soon. And now that I updated, like I promised: WE CAN WORK ON OUR CHAPTER YAY! Haha!

**KatieMalfoy19: **Thanks so much for the review Katie! I'm glad you love it and how serious it is. Sorry about Ryan's.."change of ways" in this chapter. But people will start finding out soon...in the next few chapters I expect. Enjoy!

**withoutatacegirl: **Sorry for taking forever to update! I hope you liked this chapter too!**  
**

**Sarah -or- Miley Cyrus Fan: **Here's the update, FINALLY! I want you to update! I love your story so much. Oh and I watched your Youtube videos the other day and loved them, especially Never Far Behind:)**  
**

**You guys rock! Thanks for everything!  
**


	10. Chapter 9

**Painfully Perfect**

**Author's Note: **I'm listening to If Only by Fiction Plane right now. It's a full version of the song from the book Holes and I love it. Yep! Anywho, you guys are absolutely amazing. Thank you for all the reviews! I hope you like this chapter. I think it's pretty okay I guess. But what you think is more important! I also tried to update as soon as possible! Hope it was quick enough :) Special thanks again to little.miss.sarcasm who has the amazing talent of making up dramatic endings on the spot. :) Enjoy!

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**Chapter 8**

As soon as the doorknob had started twisting, it stopped and was quickly replaced by three small knocks. "Hey Sharpay! Can I come in?" Sharpay hurriedly stood up and pulled her clothes back on and turned towards the mirror, trying to look natural. "Fine."

Ryan opened the bathroom door and smiled brightly at his twin. His wet hair was glistening and his cheeks were bright red. "Can I borrow some toothpaste? I'm all out."

Sharpay breathed a sigh of relief. "Sure. No problem." Along with her brother, she squeezed a line of toothpaste onto her white toothbrush and started brushing. It was silent for a couple of minutes, except the sound of toothbrush bristles scraping against teeth and the occasional running water from the faucet.

Ryan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smiled at himself and looked at his sister's reflection in the mirror. "Thanks Shar. Night." Their eyes met for a moment before Ryan turned on his heel.

"No problem Ryan," Sharpay whispered quietly. A part of Sharpay wanted to breakdown right there and tell him everything she was feeling. But Ryan was already gone. Instead Sharpay flipped off the bathroom light and tucked herself under her comforter tightly, silent tears leaking out of her closed eyes.

--

"Guys I've got to go to my locker quick then we can go," Kelsi informed her three friends.

"Okay," Taylor and Gabriella said while Sharpay nodded. The four girls made their way down the hallway and stopped at Kelsi's locker.

"Anyone else not understand our Chem homework except me?" Kelsi whined with a giggle.

"Well that's why we're studying together," Sharpay said in a tone you would use with a five-year-old. Kelsi gave a small laugh and shut her locker. Kelsi, Gabriella and Taylor chatted the whole way to the car while Sharpay just concentrated on getting to the car before passing out. "SHOTGUN!" Gabriella squealed when they approached the it. Sharpay unlocked the car doors and slid into the driver's seat, Gabriella in front and Taylor and Kelsi settled in the back.

Taylor and Kelsi started up a conversation amongst themselves, leaving Gabriella and Sharpay in an awkward silence up front. "So..." Gabriella started. "How was your day?"

"Fine," Sharpay said plainly, her eyes fixed on the road. "Yours?"

"Great actually. I'm glad we all get to hang out today even though we will be studying for the most part. I only have our Chemistry homework. Oh and I got an 'A' on my English paper so I was happy about that. And Troy and I are going on a date on Friday after we go to your house. He was so cute about it," Gabriella replied in one breath. She stared intently at Sharpay, mentally willing her to say something. Sharpay could feel the gaze resting on her so she glanced at Gabriella and flashed her a quick smile. "That's fantastic!"

"Mhm," Gabriella replied lamely. "You should join us! We could get Zeke to come to and it could be like a double date."

Sharpay sighed and made a right turn. "What would you be doing?"

"I'm thinking we are going to dinner and then probably grabbing some ice cream and taking a walk in the park," Gabriella spoke dreamily.

Sharpay's stomach lurched and she felt uneasy. "Well, Gabi I've told you plenty of times. I like Zeke, but not like that. He's just a friend, so it'd be awkward."

"Well we Troy and I could set you up with someone!" she offered.

"No thanks Gabs. I'll pass," Sharpay said stubbornly as she pulled smoothly into the driveway. Her three friends piled out and headed to the front door, Sharpay bringing up the rear. They four girls entered the nearly silent house and removed their shoes. Dropping their backpacks in the living room, Gabriella turned to enter the kitchen, Kelsi and Taylor following. "Oh my I'm _so_ hungry. Do you think we could have a snack _before_ we start our homework Sharpay?"

"Yeah please!" Taylor chimed in, Kelsi nodding in agreement.

"Well," Sharpay looked around at her three friends, all begging her, "You guys can have a snack if you want."

"You're not gonna have anything?" Taylor asked.

"Uh no. I'm not that hungry and dinner is just a few hours away. I'll just start on my homework," Sharpay responded simply and turned to the living room to start on her homework.

Three sandwiches, two bowls of chips and a handful of crackers later, all four teenagers girls were laying around the living room doing their homework. Kelsi was laying on the couch upside, her hair dangling down towards the floor, her book propped up against her knees. Gabriella was lying on her stomach on the floor, her feet crossed up in the air, her Chemistry book lying on the floor in front of her. Taylor had her knees pulled towards her chest on the chair, her hand propping up her homework. Sharpay, who had finished her homework while her friends were eating, was looking through the racks of CDs in her living room, looking for something to put in. Honestly, Sharpay was itching to get upstairs and go to sleep but had to wait for her friends to leave. "Hey Gabs," Taylor said, breaking the peaceful silence. "When was your mom picking us up again?"

Gabriella glanced down at her watch and then turned towards Taylor. "She should be here in about ten minutes." Taylor, Gabriella and Kelsi quickly loaded their homework and books into their backpacks and set them by the entryway. "I like getting together to study," Taylor said happily to her friends.

"Me too," Kelsi and Gabriella replied together. "I'm starting to really understand chemistry a lot more than I did," Kelsi added.

"Yeah, we should do it another time soon," Sharpay said, her voice sounding far away.

"Before the next chemistry test," Taylor offered.

"Yeah definitely." Sharpay's mind was spinning, making her feel queasy and her stomach was quietly growling at her. Sharpay, who was standing up around her friends, tried to focus on Gabriella who was talking about hanging out on Saturday. "Would you want to Shar?" Gabriella asked, but to Sharpay it sounded like she was miles away. It happened quickly, Sharpay's mind got fuzzy and suddenly she dropped face first onto the floor, the world around her turning black.

"Sharpay!" Gabriella shouted. She dropped to her knees and shook her blond friends' shoulders, Kelsi and Taylor kneeling around Sharpay with looks of alarm painted across their face. "Sharpay!" Gabriella said more urgently.

Slowly, Sharpay's world was coming back to her. She could hear screaming and quickly realized it was Gabriella. Sharpay grabbed her spinning head and slowly sat up. "Oh Sharpay," Gabriella cried with relief, clutching her heart. "Thank goodness." Taylor and Kelsi both grabbed one of Sharpay's elbows and slowly helped her stand up.

Sharpay rested her hand on the staircase banister to keep her balance. She shook her head. "What happened?"

"I was going to ask you," said Kelsi. "You just...passed out."

Gabriella stared with concern at her friend. "I must just have been really tired," Sharpay lied.

"Probably," Taylor and Kelsi agreed, but Gabriella was silent. "I'm just glad you're okay," Taylor said.

"Yeah, of course. I'm just fine," Sharpay acted, her voice sounding happy and she flashed a wide fake smile. Suddenly the doorbell rang and Sharpay pulled the front door open. "Hi Ms. Montez."

"Hello Sharpay," Ms. Montez said, pulling the young girl into a hug. "How was studying girls?"

"Great. We got a lot of work done," Kelsi said.

"That's great. So I'm taking you and Taylor home correct?" Ms. Montez questioned.

"Correct!" Taylor said with a giggle.

"Well, we best be going. I wouldn't want your mothers being upset with me if I got you home late."

"Okay." Taylor and Kelsi pulled their backpacks onto their backs and started heading out the front door with Ms. Montez.

"Mommy, I've got to use the bathroom quick so I'll be out in a second," Gabriella said quickly.

"Okay dear. We'll be in the car." Once the front door was shut again, Sharpay and Gabriella were left in silence.

"You know where the bathroom is...right down the hall," Sharpay pointed out to Gabriella.

"Shar, I don't have to go to the bathroom. What happened just a couple of minutes ago?" Gabriella asked.

"I told you," Sharpay spoke with speed, walking into the living room and straightening pillows as to avoid Gabriella. "I'm just tired. It's been a long week so far and I'm tired. Okay?"

Gabriella had followed Sharpay into the living room, much to Sharpay's dismay. "Are you sure it's not something else? If anything is wrong...you know you can always talk to me, right?"

"Of course I know that. But nothing is wrong," Sharpay lied.

"Are you sure there's nothing? Nothing you want to tell me at all?" Gabriella asked with concern.

Sharpay stared her friend in the eyes coldly. "What? You want something to be wrong Gabriella? You want their to be some problem with me?" Gabriella was taken aback. "There's nothing wrong. Don't you listen? I'm just tired. And I don't need you worrying about me over nothing. You just assume because I passed out once that I have some problem! Well I don't! I think you should leave, _now_." Sharpay walked over to the front door and yanked it open.

Gabriella was shocked. "Sharpay, I don't want their to be anything wrong with you--."

"But you think their is something wrong with me don't you?" Sharpay interrupted rudely.

"I'm just saying _if _anything is bothering you or if something _is_ wrong then please tell me. I'm your friend Sharpay and I care."

"Well there is nothing bothering me and nothing is wrong. So just stop! Your mom's waiting so hurry up." Sharpay motioned her hand for Gabriella to leave and she took the hint. Quickly grabbing her backpack, she headed towards the open door. She turned and looked at Sharpay and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Sharpay softened slightly. "It's okay. I would tell you if something was wrong. See you tomorrow Gabs."

Gabriella smiled and bounded off towards the car. After pulling out of the driveway, Ms. Montez turned towards her daughter. "So what took so long?"

Gabriella giggled softly, "Nothing mom. We were just talking and got carried away. Sorry."

"No problem sweetheart. So who am I dropping off first?"

--

Sharpay stalked into the kitchen and glanced at the clock. 5:30. She still had a half an hour before Ryan or her parents got home. She quickly started searching through the kitchen. It took only a couple of minutes before she found a Hershey's candy bar lying in snack cupboard. Sharpay ripped it off the shelf and went upstairs as fast as she could. Once she reached her room, she ran into her closet and sat down against the wall. Slowly removing the wrapper, the smell of chocolate quickly encompassed Sharpay. Slowly moving the candy bar to her watering mouth, she bit off a small piece and sighed in happiness.

Meanwhile downstairs, Ryan had just gotten home early from playing basketball with the guys. "Thanks for the ride Zeke!" Ryan called to his tall friend and then shut the front door. He removed his shoes and grabbed a towel from the downstairs linen closet before heading up the stairs. "Sharpay?" Ryan called down the long hallway upstairs. He waited for a reply but didn't receive one. So, he walked down the hall to Sharpay's bedroom and entered. "Shar?" He called again. He didn't receive a response and was about to turn to go to take his shower when he heard the distinct sound of a wrapper crinkling coming from Sharpay's closet. He approached it and yanked open the door. "Sharpay?" he asked with confusion.

Sharpay was sitting on her closet floor, consuming a chocolate bar. She glanced up at Ryan when she heard his voice and quickly made to hide the empty candy wrapper as she stood up. "What?" she snapped.

"What were you doing...in the _closet_ of all places, eating?" Ryan asked, his voice dripping with confusion.

"Nothing. Like you said, eating, okay? Can you leave now?" she bit rawly.

"Sis, that's a little weird...why were you eating in a closet, I ask again?"

"I don't know! Okay?! Just leave! Now! You didn't even ask to come in my room!" Sharpay was angry as she pushed her brother by the shoulders out of her room.

"Your door was open!" Ryan protested.

"That still gives you no right to come in my room! Leave you stupid, selfish, evil little jerk!" Sharpay didn't even have to push Ryan out anymore because he left, upset, all by himself.

"Ugh!" Sharpay huffed as she slammed her bedroom door shut. She rushed into her bathroom, locking the door behind her and dropped down in front of the toilet. "This is for eating that chocolate bar you stupid idiot!" Sharpay said to herself. Jamming two fingers down her throat, she gagged and felt the food quickly coming upward. She looked down at the toilet once more, before pushing her fingers down her throat again, this time causing herself to choke. Instead of throwing up, Sharpay started coughing into the toilet, her throat burning as if it was on fire. When she looked down, she was confused when she saw dark flecks of red. Upon closer examination, she realized that it was blood. Sharpay was worried that she had made herself cough up blood. _"Well, no more eating and purging I guess. It's back to skipping meals,"_ the voice in Sharpay's head spoke nonchalantly. Sharpay slowly raised a shaking hand to the toilet and flushed before backing away from the toilet with fear.

--

The next morning Sharpay woke up in a daze. Yesterday, in Sharpay's opinion, had been a stressful one. She slowly pulled herself out of bed and entered the bathroom to take a shower. Her shoulders were shaking because she was so cold, so she turned the shower heat to high and stepped in.

Thirty minutes later, Sharpay found herself applying makeup in her bathroom. Today she had decided to wear a pair of dark wash jeans, a pink t-shirt, that had once hugged her body fittingly now hung loosely around it, and a large gray sweatshirt. For the past week, Sharpay had started applying cover-up under her eyes to hide the dark circles that lie there and blush to her cheeks, so she wouldn't look as pale as she did. Sharpay finished with a swipe of lip gloss on her lips and slowly made her way downstairs.

"Morning Mom," Sharpay said politely.

"Morning Shar," her mother returned, setting a basket of toast on the table. Sharpay made her way across the kitchen to a cupboard and pulled out a bag of green tea. Her throat was unbearably sore and she had heard once that green tea could speed up your metabolism. After filling a mug three-quarters full with water, she set the mug quietly in the microwave and let it heat for a minute.

As the microwave beeped and Sharpay pulled it out to set the tea bag in it, Ryan came bounding down the stairs with a smile. "Morning Mom! Morning Dad!" Ryan said as he grabbed a glass and the orange juice out of the fridge.

"Morning son," his parents replied in unison. "Uh, morning to you too Ryan," Sharpay said, waving her hand in front of his face as to point out that she was in the kitchen.

"Morning Shar," he said stiffly, grabbing his glass and sitting down at the table.

"Mom, I've got to go finish a little bit of homework so I'll eat breakfast at school," Sharpay lied quickly. With her mug in hand, she slipped quietly up the stairs and into her room. She sat on the edge of her perfectly made bed and took a long sip of the steaming tea, her hands grasping tightly on the hot mug as to warm them. A million thoughts and feelings were running through Sharpay's mind. _"Nobody cares about me. Not my dad, or my mom, or Ryan or my friends or anything. Maybe they'll care once I've lost a little more weight. I just have to work harder," _Sharpay thought sadly to herself. It took her a moment to notice that she was crying. The tears were streaming slowly down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the flick of her hand and downed the rest of her tea, slightly soothing her throat.

Sharpay stood and swung her bag around her left shoulder and made her way down the stairs slowly. Ryan was standing at the bottom of the stairs as if he was waiting for Sharpay. "Finally decided to come downstairs?" He said coldly and handed her her shoes. She slipped them on as fast as she could and followed Ryan out the front door.

The ride to school was quiet, the air stiff with Ryan's anger at Sharpay. "Why are you so mad at me?" Sharpay said, daring to break the cold silence that surrounded them.

Ryan laughed bitterly. "You don't remember what you called me last night?" Sharpay racked her brain but couldn't recall. She did remember her fight with Ryan, but nothing about calling him something mean. "A stupid, selfish evil little jerk, I think it was," Ryan said, enunciating every syllable.

"I didn't _mean_ it. I think you're overreacting, Ryan."

Ryan stared at Sharpay incredulously as the came to a stop in the school parking lot. "I was just _concerned _about you Sharpay! I'm your twin and I care about you and you think _I'm_ overreacting? You spazzed out cause I asked you why you were eating in your _closet_ of all places. Just because I 'made you mad' gives you no right whatsoever to be rude to me. You know what, whatever. See you in homeroom." Ryan unbuckled and stepped out of the car, slamming the door powerfully as he left, leaving Sharpay in a stunned silence, the sound of the door slam echoing through her head. School didn't start for another half an hour, but that wasn't even on Sharpay's mind.

It was a few minutes before she was snapped back into reality. She was startled when she heard the car door open and close. After jumping form seeing Taylor sitting in the driver's seat, Sharpay held her breath. Taylor looked directly into Sharpay's eyes. "Sharpay, I know your secret."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Ohhhhhhhhh what's gonna happen now?! Ha, I already know. But anyways, what'd you think? I think this was one of my fastest updates. You guys are amazing!! 

**Review Replies:**

**LuciaAyala23:** :) I love that you thought it was over. But no, no no no. Not for awhile at least, I'm thinking. I've got a couple of ideas up my sleeve.

**Mill1on:** I hope you liked this! But I want to know what you think about HSM2!! Let me know! Haha, especially about the T necklace. That STILL bugs me. Hah!

**Corbin's My Man: **Hope this was quick enough! I'm thinking it was. Ha:)

**Lady Charity:** Yes, shocking, I know but I updated! That really made me laugh. :) Well, you got your wish about who was at the door, but I'm thinking people might be a bit disappointed about it. Sorry! Hah but I hope you like it.

**MiseryluvsDeath aka Fidele:** Correct, not good at all. But it turned out differently than I'm thinking people are thinking it will turn out. Hah, if that makes sense.

**Stessa:** Oh don't feel bad for missing reviewing a chapter. I'm glad you reviewed the last one though! I hope you like this chapter too. Bit of drama going on in Sharpay's world.

**KatieMalfoy19:** Awesome chapter, you say? Yay! Well your wish will come true _eventually_ about Ryan finding out. But not yet. Sorry! Haha.

**ascii27: **Well, it LOOKS like someone would find out. But, nope. Sorry about that. I couldn't have him find out _yet_! I know exactly when he's going to find out. Hope this update was quick enough!

**marri: **Yay you loved it! Hah that makes me happy. But don't follow by Sharpay's example in my story, please. Ha, it's not good. :( But do, by all means, enjoy reading this.

**BlackBeauty613:** I hate cliffhangers but love them, too! Haha, so yes it does make sense:)

**Pumpernickel Muffin:** I WISH Ryan was finding out now. But I couldn't have him find out just yet. But I know when he's gonna find out and it will be sad. :(

**VampireLover101: **I know, it is sad. I feel bad for Sharpay and a lot of the people in my story. Haha. Hope you like this!

**charmarctravis:** Sorry that he doesn't find out. But he will soon, I promise! He's concern because it's his sister, his twin, who is harming herself. Well, he doesn't know she is, but he was concerned about her because they are siblings. Does that make sense? Ha

**SoMuchForMyHappyEnding**: BJ! I updated! And I hope you love this one too! Hah you should update soon. I'm dying here. I can't believe she's _pregnant_, for goodness sakes. I hate Simon! Hah love you!**  
**

**v****ehicular f****e****elings: **Great story? Thank you! And thank you so much for pointing that out to me. I know I've heard that before but thank you so much for telling me:) Hope you enjoy this!**  
**

**Sarah -or- Miley Cyrus Fan: **I did update ASAP! Yayy! Haha I hope you update really really really soon because I absolutely love your story!! And your welcome for watching your videos! I love them all, but especially Never Far Behind! You should make another one too when you aren't swamped with life. :)

**little.miss.sarcasm: **I don't know how I thought it was bad. Haha, I just did. And...I thought it _was_ choppy. Haha. Yeah, in my first draft she WAS going to go to the nurse's but I changed that in like my third rewrite. Haha, Sharpay-ish. That's a funny word. Hah, yeah I had to boost her confidence a little. But, of course...she's still worried about her weight. Well, I think you'll like this chapter..cause Ryan calls out Sharpay for being a brat. Well, by my definition he does. Let's get our update up soon! Or just chat! Hehe:) Whooooooohooooooo!

**I'm currently obsessed with the movie Holes, like I was a couple of years ago. Just thought I'd let you guys know! Haha! Until next time:)**


	11. Chapter 10

**Painfully Perfect**

**Author's Note: **Wow, you guys are good guessers. :) Hope you like this. Oh and if you like Troyella, I started a new story called** Always a Part of Me**, so check that out if you want! **  
**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Sharpay's entire body tensed up in an instant. "What?" Sharpay gasped.

"I know what's going on," Taylor said simply.

"What do you mean?"

"Sharpay, it's okay. You can talk to me about it," Taylor said sincerely.

"Taylor. What are you talking about?!" Sharpay asked exasperatedly.

"How you like Zeke!" Taylor said as if it was obvious. Sharpay let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, she burst out laughing and couldn't stop. It was the first time she had truly laughed in weeks. Soon tears were streaming out of her eyes and she was gasping for air. Taylor watched, utterly confused, as her friend had a laughing fit. Sharpay fought through her laughs, "I don't like Zeke."

"What? Yeah you do!" Taylor protested.

Sharpay's laughter was slowly subsiding. "No I don't Tay. Why do you think I do?"

"Because I saw you two at lunch the other day and you were whispering to each other. And yesterday in the car when Gabriella said you were going to go on a double date with her and Troy. And you said 'I like Zeke'."

"Tay, that's really nice and all but the other day I wasn't feeling well so he offered to take me to the nurse. Yesterday, Gabriella offered to set me up with Zeke and I said 'I like Zeke, but not like that.' Sorry, I don't like him."

Taylor frowned slightly. "Oh, well okay then. Sorry! Come on let's get to homeroom." The two girls quickly exited the car and headed into the large school.

--

Throughout the day, Ryan constantly ignored Sharpay the best he could, but was forced to face her on the ride home. "Hi Ryan," Sharpay spoke solemnly. "How was your day?"

Ryan shrugged icily and settled into the driver's seat. As he went to stick the key in the ignition, Sharpay's cold hand rested on his as to tell him not to leave yet. "Would you please just talk to me?"

Ryan stared straight forward and was silent for a few minutes. He then stared at Sharpay straight in the eye, "Why? Are you going to insult me again?"

"Ryan, please stop that. I already apologized."

"You're right," Ryan said softly. He mulled over his thoughts for a minute before adding, "I forgive you."

"You do?" Sharpay asked.

"Yeah, Shar, I do. Because your my sister and I love you. But you need to have a real attitude check. You can't be running your mouth and saying things to people, even if you don't mean it, because it hurts."

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," she promised with a soft smile and they were on their way home.

--

It was 8:30 as Sharpay slipped silently into the glowing bathroom. She had avoided dinner again, only because of the fact that Ryan went out with some friends for dinner. She told her parents she wasn't feeling well, went up to bed and quickly fell asleep. Sharpay had woken up when she heard Ryan venture upstairs to his room. Her small feet padded across the floor so that she was standing in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection. Sharpay removed her shirt, revealing her gray sports bra and her thin body

She examined every bit of her body, pinching the non-existing fat on her stomach, towards her hip bone which slightly poked out of her skin. Her bony shoulders shook slightly from being cold as her protruding ribs poked sickeningly out of her skin and her collarbone was looking more prominent than ever. "Ugh, look at you," Sharpay scoffed to herself in disgust. She pulled her shirt back on and made her way over to the scale. Stepping on gingerly, she took a deep breath and then looked down. 107. "Finally! It's been forever since I've lost any weight," Sharpay whispered to herself. After stepping off the scale, she slowly made her way to her soft warm bed and fell into an uneasy sleep.

--

"Stop! Please!" Gabriella gasped in homeroom the next morning. Tears were streaming down her face matched along with her high-pitched giggles. "Troy! Stop tickling me!" Finally, Troy released his grip and smiled at the small brunette in front of him. Sharpay stared jealously at the nauseatingly-cute couple in front of her. Why didn't she have that? She glanced around her group of friends, everyone seemingly paired off. Chad and Taylor were whispering to each other, Jason and Kelsi staring at each other, slowly turning into puddles of mush, while she sat alone. She wasn't the only one; Ryan and Zeke were, too, but Zeke was too busy vying for her affection and Ryan too wrapped in school to have a girlfriend. Yet, Sharpay get it out of her head that she should be in Gabriella's position: Having the perfect, handsome, popular boyfriend.

Sharpay was soon pulled out of her depressing thoughts when Ms. Darbus called for her students' attention.

"Class, hush!" she called sharply. "I'd like to inform you that in two weeks, our homeroom will be taking a field trip--" She started and was cut off by excited murmurs. After the noise died down she started again. "To go see Romeo & Juliet! I need you to take these home to your parents, get them signed and pay the small fee," Ms. Darbus stated while passing out neon blue sheets of paper. "We will leave after homeroom, it'll probably take thirty minutes to get there. The show is at 9:45 and will commence around noon. I plan on us eating downtown for lunch and expect us to be back at school just before the end of the day." Just as Ms. Darbus finished, the shrill bell rung throughout the school.

Sharpay gathered up her school books and filed out of the classroom with her friends. "I'm so excited about the play, you guys!" Gabriella squealed.

"Me too! And we get to miss a whole day of school!" Kelsi added. The group of friends shared their excitement happily, all except for Sharpay. "Hey Shar! What's up?" Troy asked politely, falling in step with his blond friend.

"Not much," Sharpay spoke somewhat sadly. "You?"

"Same. Is something wrong?" Troy questioned with utmost sincerity. Sharpay looked at Troy and offered a small smile. "No, nothing at all. I'm just tired." And for the rest of the day, if anyone asked the same question Troy had moments ago, that would be Sharpay's answer.

--

"Hey mom!" Ryan called as he and Sharpay entered their large house.

"Hi guys! How was your day?" the older woman questioned.

"My day was really good. Oh, Shar and I need you to sign a permission slip...we're going to see Romeo and Juliet in two weeks," Ryan informed his mother.

"Okay, sounds good. Oh, which reminds me, your cousins Amber and Tony are coming up for a visit in two weeks with their mom. Uncle Frank is on a business trip so I decided to invite them up for the weekend."

"Really? Fun! Well, I've gotta go do homework so I'll see you at dinner mom," Ryan told her, grabbed his backpack and ran up the stairs.

"Hey darling. Is anything wrong? You're really quiet today," Mrs. Evans asked with concern.

"No mom," Sharpay started in a small voice. "I'm fine...just really tired. I'm gonna go upstairs and do my homework." Sharpay lifted her bag up around her shoulder and walked slowly up the stairs. Mrs. Evans watched her daughter walk away. She was moving slowly and looked frail. For for the first time in a long time, she was concerned about her daughter.

--

Sharpay could feel her mother's gaze resting on her, so she moved as quickly as she could up the stairs, which was not all that fast. Once she reached her bedroom, she dumped her bag onto her bed and headed into the bathroom. Sharpay stifled a large yawn as she stepped slowly onto the scale. 105. "Yes! Two more pounds...it must've been water weight." The young blond girl stepped off the scale and went to make way to her room so she could do her homework. Instead, she started feeling extremely dizzy, causing her to grab onto the counter to steady herself. Yet, it didn't help. She was light-headed, dizzy and things around her were getting dark. Suddenly, she fell to the floor with a sounding thud.

--

Three hours later found Sharpay, Ryan and Mr. and Mrs. Evans sitting around the dinner table. Sharpay had her hand resting on her forehead, so she could hide the large bruise that had formed when she passed out. She pushed the vegetables around her plate before stabbing a carrot with her fork. She brought it to her mouth slowly, pretending she was going to take a bite, but set the fork back down on the table when her mom called for her attention.

"Sharpay, I forgot to tell you last night. You have a doctor's appointment on Friday," Mrs. Evans informed her daughter and took a bite of her potatoes.

"What? Why? I'm not sick. Why?" Sharpay asked, alarmed.

"It's just a check-up. Ryan has his next Friday."

"But if it's just a check-up, why do I have to go? I feel fine. We don't need a doctor to tell me I'm fine," Sharpay stated.

"Sharpay, you have a doctor's appointment on Friday and that's final," Mrs. Evans said with a slight edge to her voice. The rest of dinner went on normally for everyone but Sharpay. She pushed the food around on her plate for the next thirty minutes, her stomach quietly growling at her. Sharpay didn't want to face a doctor because he would tell her mom that she was dieting._ "It's not fair. My mom's going to think I have a problem when all I'm doing is dieting. I can stop any time I want,"_ Sharpay thought to herself. How was she going to get herself out of this one?

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry, no individual replies this week.**** I really want to get this posted. I really hope you liked this, sorry if it's short. But please review any thoughts, questions--anything!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Painfully Perfect**

**Author's Note: **Sorry if this is short, but I think you guys are going to like this chapter and I really wanted to get this up! I'll try to update soon!! All of your reviews are amazing! Love you guys! Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Sharpay and her mother sat quietly in the waiting room of the local doctor's office. The family doctor, Dr. Peterson, had been the family's doctor ever since Ryan and Sharpay were born. Sharpay had her pulled her extremely large gray sweatshirt over her knees and hummed softly to herself. Mrs. Evans didn't like staying in the same place for a long time so she would stride up and down the large waiting room, occasionally sitting down in a different chair than the one before.

Mrs. Evans finally sat down again next to Sharpay and Sharpay watched her mother curiously. She was rifling through the many pamphlets they lay strewn about on the table between them. She picked up one with a large title across the front reading 'What To Know About eating Disorders.' "Ugh, Shar, look at this," Mrs. Evans started, showing the cover to Sharpay and then setting it back on the table, "I don't even want to read that. How could people possibly put their bodies through this harmful things to be skinny? That makes me so sad."

Sharpay shifted slightly in her chair so her body was turned away from her mom. After what seemed like forever, the receptionist called for Sharpay. The blond girl stood up slowly and followed the receptionist through the doorway, her mother patiently flipping through a magazine in the waiting room.

"You'll be in here. Dr. Peterson will be in in a moment," the receptionist informed Sharpay, before leaving the teenager in the small room. That morning, Sharpay shoved all the change and metal bracelets she could fit in her jean pockets, weighing them down, put on her three heaviest lockets, hidden discreetly under her sweatshirt and drank a gallon of water, making her feel bloated and heavy, but knew it would trick her weight.

Sharpay sat in the small room for a few minutes before the wooden door creaked open revealing Dr. Peterson. "Good morning, Sharpay," his kind voice spoke clearly. "How are you?"

"Fine Dr. Peterson. And you?" Sharpay asked quietly.

"I'm doing well. So, today you're in for a check-up I see. Well let's start out by weighing you. Step up on the scale please and remove your shoes," Dr. Peterson asked Sharpay politely. Hesitantly, Sharpay stepped onto the black scale and watched as her weight dialed up. Moments later, the wait was over and the scale read 111.8. The tall doctor wrote Sharpay's weigh down on is clipboard and then asked her to stand up with her heels against the wall so he could check her height. "Hmm, five three. Okay, sit back up here please," he directed to the small girl.

"Let's check your blood pressure," Dr. Peterson said, wrapping the cuff around Sharpay's upper arm. The cuff tightened slowly around her arm before slowly becoming looser. "Ninety over sixty."

Over the course of the next thirty minutes, Sharpay had her heartbeat, lungs, ears, nose and eyes checked, along with getting a sample of blood drawn to check her blood. After finishing the long series of questions that Dr. Peterson asked Sharpay, he talked to her a little more directly.

"I have a question for you. If you don't mind my asking, what is that bruise on your forehead from?"

Sharpay had forgotten to put cover-up on it this morning, but it didn't look as bad as it had. The bruise was slowly started to fade, but Sharpay knew she couldn't avoid the question. "Clumsy me, I ran into the glass deck door," she lied with a convincing laugh.

Dr. Peterson nodded and smiled slightly before moving on. "Sharpay, based on the BMI scale you aren't classified as underweight, but your weight is somewhat low for your age and height. Is there anything going on?"

Sharpay looked around the room, avoiding the doctor's gaze. "Like what?"

"Anything going on in your life now that could trigger a weight loss?"

Sharpay sat in her thoughts for a moment before responding. "Things have been a little stressful lately I guess. I've got the musical coming up and friends, family, school, homework," she told him, which was not quite a lie, but not quite the truth. "It's not like I don't eat or anything like that!" she added hastily.

"Oh, I wouldn't think you did. I've known you since you were a baby Sharpay and you've got a good head on your shoulders. I don't think you would take that path. Aside from your weight, you are perfectly healthy."

"That's great," Sharpay mumbled, standing up to get ready to leave the office and head back to the waiting room, Dr. Peterson behind her. "Dr. Peterson, with all due respect...could we _not_ mention my weight to my mom? It's not a problem and I wouldn't want her worrying over nothing."

"That's your decision Sharpay. So when is your show?" He asked, trying to make conversation as they entered the waiting room.

"April 27th. A couple of months still."

"Well, I'll have to get some tickets for me and my family. You ladies have a good day."

"Thank you Dr. Peterson," Mrs. Evans called to the slightly older man. "Yeah, thanks." Sharpay added as they left the building.

Once in the car, Mrs. Evans tried to make small talk. "So how did things go?"

"He said I'm perfectly healthy."

"Perfectly healthy? There's nothing wrong whatsoever?"

"Nope," Sharpay said with a bored tone.

"You're sure?"

"Yes mom. Do you want something to be wrong?" The younger blond snapped to her mom.

"Of course not sweetie. Forget I said anything," Mrs. Evans responded, slightly hurt by her daughter's accusation and for the rest of the car ride, the two blonds settled into a stiff silence.

--

The following Monday at lunch, Sharpay sat at the red circular table listening with barely any interest to her friends conversation. Her stomach was growling like crazy and drinking water wasn't helping. It had been a while since Sharpay had actually eaten a real meal. After thinking about, Sharpay decided to go get a bowl of hot chicken noodle soup, a bag of chips and an orange.

It was delicious. All the ingredients went perfectly together and Sharpay's bowl of soup was empty within minutes, leaving Sharpay more hungry than she was before. She quickly devoured the chips and the oranges and leaned back in her chair. Had she really just eaten all that food? It had only been eight minutes and it was all gone._ "Come on, Shar. It was your decision. You know the consequence," _that voice in her head spoke up. "Hey guys, I'll see you next period. I've gotta run to the bathroom."

"Okay, see you in drama Shar," Gabriella called as she walked away, Ryan and Troy mumbling the same thing. Sharpay went up the stairs as quick as she could, which was surprisingly fast for her state. The click of her shoes on the polished hallway floors echoed as she made her way to the girl's bathroom. Upon entering the room, she scanned the row of stalls to make sure the bathroom was empty before securely locking herself in a stall.

Sharpay dropped to her knees and took a couple of deep breaths before raising to hands to her both. But she quickly pulled them back down again and whispered, "I just can't do it."

"Yes you can Sharpay. And you will," the nagging voice in her head demanded. Sharpay raised to shaky fingers and forced them down her throat, feeling her lunch come back up and land with a splash in the toilet. The sight made Sharpay gag, causing a bit more bile to rise in her throat before falling in the toilet. Sharpay grabbed a piece of toilet paper and wiped her mouth with it, threw it in the toilet and flushed.

Sharpay exited the stall, washed her hands and mouth and then popped a piece of mint gum into her mouth. With the turn of her heel she left the bathroom and headed to drama.

And that was the pattern that week. Sharpay would eat lunch with her friends and then go to the bathroom and get rid of it. By the time Friday came around, Sharpay was down to 102 pounds and had thrown up everyday that week. The gang sat around the table and Sharpay watched everyone eat before getting up to get her own food.

Ryan, who had stopped worrying about his sister, but was becoming concerned again, turned to Gabriella and Troy. "Why does Sharpay keep going to the bathroom after lunch everyday this week?"

"I was wondering that, too," Troy told his friends, a hint of worry in his voice.

"If something was wrong, I'm sure she'd tell us. If you ask me, I'd say it's that time of month," Gabriella told the two boys with a giggle.

That was enough information for Troy and Ryan, so they quickly dropped the subject. Both thought it was a reasonable explanation, especially considering that she had been rude to Ryan last week and her emotions had been kind of back and forth.

"Hey guys. What's up?" Sharpay asked happily as she sat down between Gabriella and Ryan and dug right into her piece of pepperoni pizza.

"Not much. I'm kind of excited for drama today, though," Troy said honestly.

"Me, too! Yesterday was really fun. Hopefully Ms. Darbus will just let us finish that movie instead of actually having to take notes and stuff," Gabriella added.

"Yeah, I hope she let's us, too," Sharpay laughed, eating a forkful of her salad and taking a swig of chocolate milk.

For most of the lunch hour, the conversations were normal and the gang sat around laughing and talking. "Hey, would you guys wanna come to our rehearsal after school and then we could all hang out at my house?" Troy offered.

There were murmurs of excited agreement around the table and they all decided that would be the plan for the night. "Hey, I'll see you guys in drama," Sharpay said to Gabriella, Troy, Ryan and Kelsi as she stood up to go to the bathroom.

"Hey Shar. I'll come with you," Gabriella offered happily and walked up the steps with a shocked Sharpay.

The two friends entered the girl's bathroom and Sharpay stood in front of a sink and looked at her reflection. Gabriella entered a stall and went to the bathroom as Sharpay scrutinized her face in the mirror, hoping Gabriella would leave. After a minute or so, Gabriella emerged and turned on the faucet to wash her hands. "Want me to wait?" Gabriella asked politely as she dried her hands on the brown paper towel.

"Nope, that's fine. I'll just see you in drama," Sharpay flashed one of her famous smiles and watched as Gabriella left the room before entering a stall.

"Hey guys!" Gabriella called as she saw Ryan and Troy walking in the hallway in the sea of students. Gabriella fell into step with them and started making small talk before quickly realizing something. "Oh shoot! I forgot my bag in the bathroom. I'll see you guys in drama!" Gabriella turned around and slowly made her way back to the bathroom she had been in minutes before. She spotted her bag quickly and almost left before hearing a voice.

"You can do better than that," Sharpay whispered. Gabriella was about to call out Sharpay's name, but stopped when she heard the distinct sound of her best friend throwing up. Gabriella quickly exited the bathroom and ran through the school, trying to catch up with Ryan and Troy before they got to drama.

* * *

**Author's Note: **OHMYGOSH!! What's going to happen now? Bet you wanna know. :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Review! 


	13. Chapter 12

**Painfully Perfect**

**Author's Note:** You are all amazing. I feel this chapter is choppy. Ugh, what you think is what matters most. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Gabriella raced down the hallway as fast as she could and entered the large theater room just moments before the bell rang, Sharpay following just as the bell rung. Gabriella scanned the room, looking for Ryan or Troy, but was snapped at by a cranky-looking Ms. Darbus.

"Ms. Montez! Take a seat now." Gabriella sat down, still looking frantically around for either boy. "Class, today you will finish the movie but there will be no talking whatsoever! I am in no mood for it today! If I hear any talking, that person will write a five page paper on the movie and will have detention for a month!" Ms. Darbus fumed angrily, turning off the theater lights and clicking play on the movie. Soon enough Gabriella spotted Troy and Ryan sitting in the front of the room and silently cursed to herself. She'd just have to tell them after class.

--

Gabriella's next period was her free period so she waited patiently in the hallway until the halls were nearly empty, and then thought about where she would find her friends. Troy and Chad were practicing basketball right now, so that was the first place that Gabriella decided to go.

"Troy! Chad!" The petite brunette called to the two boys when she first entered the large gymnasium. They exchanged a look and ran over to Gabriella.

"Hey Gabs. What's up? Something wrong?" Chad asked, thinking something was up by the look on her face.

"Actually, yeah. It's...well," Gabriella started, now not feeling so sure of herself.

"Hey, anything you wanna say, it's okay. You can say it," Troy said, setting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's Sharpay!" Gabriella blurted out. "Something with her is really really wrong."

"What do you mean?" Troy questioned, sharing a confused look with Chad.

Thoughts raced through Gabriella's mind. "Sharpay...I...in the bathroom, I heard her throwing up."

Again, Troy and Chad exchanged a glance and stared back at the worrying girl. "Okay?" Chad said, coming out more like a question.

Gabriella had a pleading look in her eyes. How did they not understand what she was saying? "I think she was _making _herself throw up."

It was silent for a moment before Troy spoke. "Gabs, I don't think that Sharpay would do anything like that. I mean, it's Shar. I really don't think she would do something like that to herself."

"UGH! Don't you understand? Haven't you seen how she's changed? She looks sick, she's really thin and her attitude is so...not Sharpay."

"Gabriella, I'm sure your intentions are good. And yeah, I think some of what your saying is true. But Sharpay wouldn't take that drastic of measures," Chad spoke, unconvinced by what Gabriella was saying, or simply just not wanting to accept it.

"I'm telling you! Something's wrong with Sharpay!" Gabriella protested to Troy and Chad.

"Chad! Troy! Huddle up!" Couch Bolton called sternly to the basketball players.

"Gabi, we've gotta go. But everything will be fine. We'll talk later." Gabriella growled in frustration ad watched as Troy and Chad ran back to their team.

What was she supposed to do now? Gabriella returned to the hallway and walked slowly down it, her footsteps echoing off the walls. She looked up when she heard the familiar whistle coming from Ryan.

"Ryan! Thank goodness!" Gabriella squealed exasperatedly, hugging the blond boy tightly. "It's Sharpay."

A look of shock overcame Ryan's face. "What about Sharpay?"

"I...Ryan, I heard her throwing up in the bathroom today."

Ryan staggered a little bit and slid down the wall, resting his face in his hands. "Are you sure it was her?"

"Yeah...I heard her whispering," Gabriella replied, now sitting next to her friend, a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry. I just...I don't know what to do."

"No. I thought the same thing a couple of weeks ago. Sharpay wouldn't do that Gabi. I _know _she wouldn't. I'm her brother, her twin. And besides, I think the doctor would've noticed last week. I've gotta get back to class," Ryan stood up and walked away slowly, the same shocked look painted on across his face.

Why didn't anybody believe Gabriella? She wouldn't make something like this up. Maybe the only person she could talk to about it was Sharpay herself.

--

Sharpay slowly made her way to the theater for rehearsal. Just as she touched the door handle, a voice called her name.

"Sharpay!" Gabriella called, running to her friend. Sharpay managed a small smile. "Hey Gabs. What's up?"

"We need to talk. I'm going to get right to the point...I heard you in the bathroom today," Gabriella spoke quickly, a serious look on her face.

Sharpay's body stiffened, but she played it cool, her acting skills coming in handy. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't do that. I heard you throwing up."

"Oh that," Sharpay said, starting off her lie. "I wasn't feeling well. I think I'm coming down with something."

"Sharpay! Stop that! I know you aren't sick. What I want to know is why you would do that to yourself. I don't understand it."

"What I don't understand is what you are talking about," Sharpay hissed back. "Gabriella, just leave me alone. I'm getting so annoyed that all you do is accuse me lately. Quit being jealous."

"Jealous? _Jealous?_ You really think I would be jealous that you are harming yourself? No, that's wrong. Sharpay, I care about you. You're like a sister to me, so please! Talk to me! I know what's going on, you can't hide it anymore."

"I know hanging out will be fun tonight, Gabs!" Sharpay said fake-cheerily when she saw Ryan approach the theater. Sharpay turned and entered the theater, waiting on backstage for everyone else to come in.

"Hey Gabi," Ryan said meekly. "What were you and Sharpay talking about?"

Gabriella stared right into Ryan's eyes. "You know what we were talking about. I wasn't lying. But Sharpay is. Why don't you try asking her what's going on. Maybe you'll get through to her," Gabriella said before opening the door for them to go into rehearsal.

Ryan was in denial and he knew it. He didn't want anything to be wrong with Sharpay, so he tried convincing himself that Sharpay was fine, but he knew that something as wrong. He followed Gabriella into the large room and went backstage to grab his script and ran into Sharpay.

"You're awfully quiet, Ry." A few minutes later, breaking the awkward silence.

"What? Yeah, I guess."

"How come?" Sharpay questioned, turning her glassy eyes to her brother. Ryan didn't respond so Sharpay asked him another question. "You haven't been talking to Gabriella have you? Don't listen to her! She's a liar. I don't have a problem. I just wasn't feeling well today."

Ryan listened to what his sister was saying and wanted so badly to believe her, but knew it wasn't true. "Okay, Sharpay." Ryan turned away from his sister and walked out on stage just as Ms. Darbus entered.

"Okay, let's take it from the top today. Places people!" Ms. Darbus said with the clap of her hands, her bad mood still lingering from early today.

The large group of teens got in their places and quickly started rehearsal. After about five minutes of dialog, Sharpay was supposed to sing her solo. She started and it sounded beautiful, but as the notes got higher, Sharpay's voiced started to crack and squeak. "Can I start over?" Sharpay pleaded to Ms. Darbus, putting a hand on her throat.

"Of course." Kelsi began playing the piano just as Chad, Taylor and Zeke entered silently slipped into seats in the auditorium. Sharpay opened up her mouth and her clear voice sang loudly throughout the large room, but again as she started singing higher her voice cracked.

"Ms. Evans," Ms. Darbus stopped her suddenly. "Are you coming down with a cold or something?"

Sharpay rubbed her hand against her throat, a slight red tint slowly creeping down her cheeks. "Yeah, I haven't been feeling well today. Sorry," Sharpay lied.

"Why don't you go to the nurse and rest up your voice for Monday's rehearsal. I expect you to be able to sing for us on Monday, also." Sharpay nodded with embarrassment and slowly walked backstage to grab her bag, running into Gabriella. "Told you I wasn't feeling well," Sharpay snapped, trying to convince Gabriella that she hadn't forced herself to throw up. She marched off and left the school entirely, zooming to her house as fast as she could.

--

It was six o'clock as Sharpay sat on the edge of her bed, staring straight forward. That's how she had been ever since she had gotten home two hours ago. Her phone was blaring different ringtones and then continuously beeping, alerting her she had missed calls. She knew who was calling according to their assigned ringtones. It was the gang and she knew they were trying to get her to go hang out with them at Troy's. But she didn't want to be around people, especially Gabriella, who had seen her mess up at rehearsal today. And she didn't want Gabriella hovering over her all the time to check if she was eating or not. Why was that any of her business?

For the first time in the last two hours, Sharpay moved, slowly making her way into the bathroom, locking it behind her. She removed her clothes and stepped on the scale. 101. _"Come on Shar. You're almost down to double digits!!_" She thought to herself. Sharpay stepped off the scale and scrutinized herself in the mirror, as she tended to do after weighing herself.

She ran a hand across her rib cage, her fingers pushing gently on the protruding ribs. Sharpay wrapped her left hand around her right wrist and her fingers overlapped slightly. To anyone, Sharpay looked sick. She looked as if she hadn't eaten in days and the life was sucked out of her. But to Sharpay, all she saw was fat, extra weight and ugliness.

With one hand, Sharpay grabbed her clothes and threw them in the hamper in her closet before pulling on a baggy pair of sweatpants, a large black sweatshirt and her white tennis shoes. Sharpay exited the house and ran, pushing herself as hard as she could go. She sprinted up the hill on her street and quickly made her way down the other side, panting and sweating. The blond ran for an hour before coming to a stop near her house, wheezing, sweating and her head spinning. Sharpay torpidly pulled herself off of the sidewalk, tried to steady herself and started walking. In one step, she came stumbling down to the ground again, just barely catching herself before hitting the gray pavement.

Sharpay eventually made it inside of her house and quickly went upstairs to shower, the boiling water scorching her skin.

--

Sharpay's weekend went by quickly, considering she spent most of her time sleeping and distancing herself from people. Mrs. evans was convinced Sharpay was ill because she slept the weekend away, and allowed her to stay home Monday and Tuesday. This was be the perfect excuse to say that Sharpay 'didn't have an appetite because she was sick,' making Sharpay extremely satisfied.

Wednesday morning Sharpay woke up, her body shaking slightly despite the fact that she was under a down comforter and three fleece blankets. Again, Mrs. Evans and her husband agreed to let Sharpay stay home again. Sharpay knew she was stretching it, but convinced her mom to let her stay home for one more day. At around noon on Thursday, Sharpay finally woke up, lightheaded and starving. She literally hadn't eaten anything for the past five and a half days except for a few glasses of water and a cracker. Weakly, Sharpay pulled herself out of bed, wrapping a green fleece blanket around her bony body and shuffled into the bathroom to weigh herself. She shrugged off her blanket and slipped off the long gray t-shirt she was wearing and then hopped up onto the black scale. The small device blinked momentarily before the number 97 flashed at Sharpay. Her jaw dropped and she quickly pulled her shirt back on and yanked the warm blanket around her shoulders. She smiled at herself in the mirror, but it wasn't full of the same energy it used to be filled with. Sharpay's cheeks were sunken in, along with her eyes which had round dark bags hanging under them.

Sharpay crawled back into her bed and thought about what she missed this week. She'd probably have enough homework to keep her busy all day Saturday and she had missed two musical rehearsals. Laying her head down on her soft pillow, Sharpay slowly faded into a deep sleep.

--

The bus was loud with chatter as the excited students of Ms. Darbus' homeroom rode downtown. "This is the perfect way to end a week," Taylor squealed to her friends, causing loud murmurs of agreement. "Oh, before I forget. My mom said you guys could come hang out at my place if you wanted."

"Yeah!" Most of the group said, before Sharpay spoke.

"Actually, our cousins Amber and Tony are coming up with our aunt today, so I don't think Ryan and I can make it," Sharpay said, glad she had an excuse to get out of hanging out with her friends.

"Yeah, but Shar, I'm sure mom and dad won't mind if we leave for awhile. I mean Tony and Amber will be up all weekend. We can hang out with them on Saturday and Sunday," Ryan pointed out, receiving a glare from Sharpay. "We'll just call you guys," Sharpay added, before turning her head and watching the town blur past her. Kelsi, who was sitting with Sharpay, turned to her friend and smiled. "Hey Shar. Something wrong?"

"No, Kels. Just thinking," Sharpay spoke with no emotion. After ten more minutes, the bus slowly pulled to a smooth stop in front of the theater. The kids quickly exited the bus and gathered around Ms. Darbus.

"Let me take attendance quick and then we'll head right inside. You can sit by your friends, but be quiet during the play or I will move you. Stay as a group and follow me," Ms. Darbus ordered with the wave of her hand as she gracefully led the group of twenty students into the large building. As soon as the entered the actual theater, the students scrambled to get seats and comfortably waited for the show to start. Sharpay was sitting at the end of a row, Taylor to her left and Zeke placed directly in front of her, sitting next to Chad. The lights dimmed, hushing the noise of the crowd and the play began.

Sharpay tried to stay focused, but her mind was wandering and her eyes were drooping as she rested her head on her right hand. She managed to stay awake for the duration of the entire play and intermission, but had literally zoned out, not noticing what was going on around her.

The sound of loud, thunderous applause pulled Sharpay out of her trance-like state and she followed suit. The rest of the field trip went by slowly for Sharpay. She was able to narrowly escape eating lunch by pulling Ms. Darbus into a long talk about what she had missed during the week, while strolling through the downtown.

After what seemed like forever, Sharpay was finally back at school, walking towards her car with Ryan at her side. "We'll see you guys tonight?" Chad called from his car, his hands cupped over his mouth.

"We'll call," Sharpay yelled back. "But I'm sure we'll be there," Ryan added.

Once they were in the car, Ryan talked to his sister. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, loads," Sharpay voiced, taking a sharp left.

"So, quick question. Did you not want to go to Taylor's tonight? Because I _do_ wanna go," Ryan wondered aloud. Sharpay shifted somewhat in her seat before answering her brother.

"It's not that I don't want to go to Taylor's," Sharpay stressed, trying to think of a lie. "I just think it'd be nice if we were there to spend time with our cousins. You can go to Taylor's if you want to so badly, but I miss Amber and Tony."

"Shar, I do, too. But there gonna be there all weekend. It's one night of hanging out with friends. You sure you don't wanna come?" Ryan asked with a pleading smile.

"Nope. Have fun, though."

The twins pulled into the driveway, seeing there Aunt's car parked on the side of the street and hurried into the house. "RYRY!" Six-year old Amber yelled as her cousin entered the house. She quickly ran into his arms and he lifted her up and spun around with her.

"PAY!" Three-year old Tony yelled to his female cousin, running up to her and wrapping his arms around her neck. She planted a kiss on his rosy cheek and stared into his deep, dark green eyes. "Hi PayPay," Tony whispered, waving to his cousin.

"Hi Tony! I've missed you," she squealed, some real happiness filling her as she blew a raspberry on his neck. "Sharie!" Amber giggled, giving her older cousin a kiss on the cheek. "Guess what! I'm in kindergarten and guess what! I learned how to tie my shoes three days ago. Watch!" Amber pulled on her untied shoe and slid it onto her foot, picking the strings up in her hands. Ryan sat with Tony in his lap and watched Amber along with Sharpay.

"Build a tee pee," Amber whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, as she started moving her laces along with the song. "Come inside. Close it tight so we can hide. Over the mountain and around we go. Here's my arrow and here's my bow!" She exclaimed as she wiggled her foot with the tied shoe in Sharpay's face. "See! I did it! Guess what! I have magical powers."

"No way," Sharpay gasped, playing along with her cousin.

"Yes way. I can turn you into a frog. But you can't tell anybody except me, but I already know," Amber spoke quietly to Sharpay.

"Why can't I tell anyone?"

"Because then you would turn into a chicken."

"And why is that?" Sharpay wondered.

"I don't know. That's just the way magic works. Keep those lips zipped," the small brunette smiled as she pretended to zip her lip and throw away the key.

"Sharpay and Ryan!" The twins Aunt Angela called to them, pulling them into hugs. "How are you?"

"Great! And you?" Ryan said as they all entered the kitchen, Tony resting on his hip.

"I'm great. It's so good to see you guys! You look more grown up every time I see you." The room filled with laughter and conversation over the next twenty minutes before Ryan announced he had to leave. "I'll see you later tonight!" Ryan yelled happily after placing a kiss on the cheek of each person in the room.

"I better go upstairs and do some homework. I have loads because I was out of school for most of the week," Sharpay informed the room after Ryan left.

"No Sharie! Play with me and Tony!" The little girl begged, flashing a large smile and revealing her two missing front teeth.

"I will after I'm done with my homework, okay? I promise." Sharpay smied back to her cousin. Amber lunged forward and hugged Sharpay, only reaching just above her waist, but hugging her all the same. The blond hugged her cousin back before waving and heading up the stairs.

"Owwie," Amber whined after Sharpay left.

"What is it sweetie?" Angela asked her daughter, squatting down so they were at the same eye level.

"Why is Sharpay so poky?" Her small voice whimpered as she rubbed her arm a little bit. Angela stared up at her sister with a confused look before looking back at her daughter. "You're okay, Amber. It's okay."

--

Zeke, Chad, Ryan, Troy, Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi sat around Sharpay's large basement engaging in conversation. "So Ryan, why didn't Sharpay come?" Taylor spoke the thought that was in everybody's head.

"She said she really wanted to spend time with our cousins so that's what she's doing, I guess," Ryan said, his tone bored.

Gabriella was fed up with the whole 'Sharpay situation', but nobody believed her the first time she told them. Not even Ryan, but Gabriella knew that was denial. So why would she bring it up again? All that Gabriella knew was that if Sharpay didn't get some help, something drastic was going to happen that would throw them all in shock.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hmm, I think I'd say this was a filler-ish chapter. Did anyone like Tony and Amber? Haha, I added them so that Amber could do the 'poky' line..but I had to add some extra dialog. And they are little kids, so it was random. :) Sorry nobody believes Gabriella. Haha, but some dramatic stuff should be happening soon. Read the last line again...maybe it'll get you to thinking. :) I'd love to hear what you guys think is going to happen! Aren't you glad Gabriella knows though? Well, let me know what you thought. Review :) 

**Individual Review Replies:**

**nrisley19892007: **Yay! You love it:) Dramatic stuff is gonna be happening soon! Hope you liked this!

**MiseryluvsDeath aka Fidele:** I know, finally. :)**  
**

**SweetSmiles16: **Aww, thanks for liking Sharpay's mom in the story. I just wanted to add her in a bit so it wouldn't be like the parents were TOTALLY oblivious to what was going on. So I had her be a little suspicious.**  
**

**KatieMalfoy19: **I'm glad your glad Gabriella knows. Are you happy I chose Gabi? I just wanted to have Gabriell find out first. I just wish people would believe Gabriella. But I've got some things up my sleeve, yet. :)**  
**

**boptothetop: **Yep, she told three people. But do they believe her? NO! But they will...eventually, unless I change it. Haha.**  
**

**LuciaAyala23: **See, I don't know if I had should have her faint during the show or rehearsal. I'm almost positive I'm going with rehearsal, just for a bunch of reasons. Thanks for reading!

**charmarctravis: **I liked your theory, that maybe Gabriella would think Sharpay was sick. It was kind of the other way around though wasn't it? Haha.**  
**

** Zashleyrocks and Zanessa sucks: **She's caught! Well...sort of. If people would just believe Gabriella then Sharpay would be caught. Hah, but I couldn't have that happen JUST yet.**  
**

**BlackBeauty613: **Haha, yep Sharpay didn't notice Gabriella left her bag! Too bad for Shar. At least it will be, poor Shar.

**Pumpernickel Muffin: **Now you know what happened! Are you wishing that Troy, Chad and/or Ryan would've believed Gabi? Yeah, me too, but I decided not to do that yet. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

**Lady Charity: **Yay! You were right, Gabriella knew Sharpay was forcing herself and that it wasn't that she was sick or anything. Mhmm, Sharpay needs help. Lol but things will work out. At least that's what I'm planning right now. Hah thanks for reading!

**Corbin's My Man: **Kind of a quick update, eh? Just about three/four days. :)**  
**

**glamourzXfakebestfriend: **Haha, I LOVE the one word review. ;)**  
**

**Stessa:** I know, finally someone knows. And you'd expect her friends to know sooner, but I didn't want it to happen just yet. And I wanted Gabriella to find out officially first. I love that story I'm reading by you, it ends tonight! It's good:)**  
**

**little.miss.sarcasm: **Gabriella knows! She knows! She knows! Haha, you are smarticle. And she didn't chicken out, but NO one believed her. Your mad about that aren't you? Sorry, but things are gonna be..intense soon enough. I think. I don't know. But yeah. :) Yayy, you liked the doctor scene. I had it be subtle. Because even though she tricked her weight, even if she hadn't she'd still be classified as normal weight on the BMI scale but if the doc saw such a dramatic weight loss it'd be like whoaaaa. Ahh, whatever..I'm glad you liked it:) Double and triple YAYY! I'm glad that part made you laugh about 'Sharpay's time of month.' Haha, it's priceless to see a guys facial expression to that. Hehehe. So did you save our doc so it didn't self-delete? Ha, just wondering. And I update my other story again but I'm thinking about deleting the chapter I just posted. I hate it and it's really bad writing. Ughhh, why I posted it, I have no idea. Blech, just thinking about it makes me grrr-y. You update soon missy and we'll chat hopefully soon, too!**  
**

**hahaheeheehaha: **Sorry nobody believes Gabriella. But I hope you liked this chapter and I tried to update soon!!!!!!

**Erin: **Haha, much quicker update eh? That was only a couple of days so that's good. I hope you liked this!


	14. Chapter 13

**Painfully Perfect**

**Author's Note:** I finally gave Mrs. Evans a name in this chapter! Haha, it seemed way to formal all the time so I finally gave her a name, Alyson. Hah :) Hope you like this...sorry it's taken forever to post something! School is crazy! And I'm dedicating this chapter to little.miss.sarcasm because she is always extremely helpful when I'm having writer's block and because she's super cool. :) Hah, enjoy everyone! And thank you for the reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 13**

An hour later, Sharpay walked into her bathroom, heading towards the scale. Just as she stepped on, the door burst open and little Amber came bounding across the room to her cousin. "What are you doing Sharpay? Ooh are you weighing yourself on the weighing machine?" Amber peered over and stared at the number that had appeared as Sharpay jumped off the scale. "You weigh 96? I weigh 53. So that means you weigh 43 more pounds than I do. I'm so smart!"

Sharpay tried to smile at her cousin, but was extremely paranoid that she knew her weight. "Why don't we go downstairs and play with Tony?"

"Okay!" Amber grabbed Sharpay's wrist and led her downstairs to the living room where Tony was playing with trains. "Hi Tony! Sharie's gonna play with us! Wanna play house Sharie?" Amber spoke loudly.

"Why not?" Sharpay said with a smile.

"Okay! I'm the mom! Sharie and Tony are my kids!" Amber giggled. She ran around the room, placing toys here and there. "Let's play dress-up!" She squealed suddenly.

"But I thought we were playing house," Sharpay told her cousin.

"We play house!" Tony yelled, trying to copy Sharpay.

"We'll play that later! Come on Tony and Sharie!" Amber ran up the stairs and out of sight. Sharpay lifted Tony up in her arms and they made their way upstairs.

--

Two hours later, the upstairs toy room had piles of clothes everywhere. Amber was wearing a tall, ruby cone-shaped hat and a matching dress. Sharpay was wearing a gold dress and crown and Tony had on a knight costume. They sat around in a circle having a tea party when Ryan suddenly walked in.

"RY!" Amber screamed, running into his arms. He picked her up and carried her back over to the table where Tony and Amber were. "Mind if I join the party?" Ryan asked.

"Nope. But you've gotta dress-up." Amber pulled out a blue jacket and told Ryan to dress up in it. Ryan grabbed the jacket and slipped it on as Angela appeared in the doorway.

"Where's Tony?" she asked with a smile.

"Mommy," Tony whispered as he hugged his mom. "I'm tired."

"I'm going to put him down for a little while before dinner," Angela informed Sharpay and Ryan. "You guys can keep playing and I'll call you down for dinner after awhile."

Ryan smiled his gratitude and sat down at the table with Amber and Sharpay. "How was your friend's house?" Amber asked, pretending to pour tea in Ryan's cup.

"It was fun. We watched a movie, but I came home after so I could play with you," Ryan replied, as Amber pretended to pour some cream into his cup. "What did you do?"

"Well," she started as she pretended to scoop up some sugar and pour it into his cup, "I was playing trains with Tony. Then I got bored. So I colored in my princess coloring book. But I got bored again. So, I went to go get Sharpay so we could play. And guess what I did when I got her from upstairs?" She asked dramatically.

"What?" Ryan gasped, playing along.

"I should her how smart I was," she stated, deciding to put more 'sugar' in Ryan's cup.

"And how did you do that?" Ryan laughed.

Sharpay just put two and two together as Amber opened her mouth. Sharpay couldn't stop her. "Well, Sharpay was on the weighing machine. And I subtracted our weights! In my _head_! I weigh 53, but Sharie weighs 96. So I'm..." she trailed off doing the math in her head again, "43 pounds lighter than Sharie! I'm so smart! I'm gonna go get a calculator so I can show you I was right." Amber bounced out of the room and down the hall. Ryan turned and stared at his sister.

"Ryan, I don't weigh 96 pounds. I know that's what your thinking," Sharpay quickly lied convincingly.

"Yeah.. She's a little kid. She probably just let her imagination carry her away," Ryan replied, convincing himself to believe Sharpay.

"Yeah...it was just her imagination." Sharpay and Ryan sat in silence until Amber came back to the room. They played for an hour and a half until it was time for dinner. Amber grabbed her cousins arms and dragged them downstairs. Sharpay hadn't even thought of a way to get out of dinner. Amber pushed Ryan into the chair to her left and Sharpay into the chair to her right.

The large plate of spaghetti taunted Sharpay. Her stomach was growling, but she didn't want to eat it. Yet, something took over and she shoveled a large bite into her mouth. Soon, her plate was empty. "Thanks for dinner mom. May I be excused? I've got a little more homework I want to finish."

"No problem, Shar," Alyson told her daughter with a smile. Sharpay went up the stairs as quickly as she could. She paced her room, her mind wandering back to the plate of food she had gobbled just minutes ago. She thought about getting rid of it, but realized she didn't have the energy to do it, not that she even wanted to.

"Sharpay! You are not a quitter. You want people to like you, don't you? You just need to loose a little more weight," the obnoxious voice spoke in Sharpay's mind. It was a blur to Sharpay, almost like an out-of-body experience. She entered the bathroom, she leaned over the toilet, her fingers scraping sharply against her teeth, her food finally coming back up and into the bowl in front of her. Her pointer and middle finger were bleeding. She tried standing up, but fell back onto the ground, the world slowly slipping into black.

--

Ryan silently allowed himself into Sharpay's room around midnight. The room was dark, but he could see that she wasn't in her bed. He glanced into and saw the moonlight dancing on Sharpay, who was lying on the floor. He breathed in deeply as he walked around her. His mom had asked him to go check on Sharpay when she hadn't come down for hours. "Oh Sharpay," Ryan said as he noticed her cut fingers and wondered how that happened.

He pulled out two bandaids and wrapped them securely around her fingers before wrapping his arms under Sharpay's knees and around her back and hoisted her up in his arms. The frail girl in his arms stirred as they started walking out of the bathroom and back into Sharpay's room. Sharpay's shoulder blades poked at Ryan's arms as he felt Sharpay's body shiver ever so slightly in his arms.

"Make it stop," Sharpay mumbled sadly in her sleep.

Ryan frowned at his sister in his arms and tried to sooth her. "Shh, everything is alright Shar." Ryan pulled back Sharpay's comforter and gently set her down, pulling the large blanket around her shoulders. "Make it stop, please," Sharpay cried out again.

Tears started to glaze over Ryan's eyes as he pushed Sharpay's limp hair out of her face. He placed a kiss on her forehead and whispered, "Sleep tight, Shar," before quietly exiting the room.

The blond boy flipped on the light in his room and sat on his bed, covering a hand over his mouth as he rested his elbow on his knee. Ryan was still in the deep denial about Sharpay, but a very small part of him was slowly starting to realize the harsh reality of his twin sister.

--

Sharpay stayed cooped up in her room for the rest of the weekend, spending a lot of her time sleeping. She vaguely pulled back the events that happened after dinner on Friday, but nothing was very clear. She slept most of the day on Saturday, waking only when Amber and Tony came in to play with her.

At noon on Sunday Sharpay was still in bed sleeping when the door slowly creaked open revealing Ryan holding a plate. "Sharpay?" Ryan spoke, causing his sister to wake.

"Oh, hi Ryan," she responded, sitting up slightly. "What?"

"I brought you some lunch," he told her, pointing to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich, celery and glass of ice water.

"Thanks for lunch," Sharpay said, avoiding Ryan's eyes as she took a sip of the glass of water. "I'll see you later."

Ryan just nodded and left the room quietly. Sharpay watched until he shut the door before eating the four pieces of celery within minutes and downing the glass of water. She looked at the sandwich in disgust before turning her back to it and trying to fall back asleep.

--

"Lalala," Sharpay sang quietly to herself as she walked into the auditorium for rehearsal after school on Monday. "Good day, Ms. Evans," Ms. Darbus greeted Sharpay happily as she walked on stage. As students filed in, Sharpay smiled at them. She watched Zeke, Chad and Taylor seat themselves in the audience as Gabriella walked up the stage with Ryan, Kelsi and Troy. Gabriella walked right past Sharpay without even a glance.

"What's her problem?" Sharpay thought to herself as she stood up and waited for Ms. Darbus to direct them. They started with act two from the beginning. Sharpay and Troy stood on the stage opposite each other and began.

"So what's this I hear about you and Tommy?" Troy asked in character with a Boston accent.

"Who's talking?" Sharpay's snapped, her English accent spoken clearly. "Honestly, if you have..." Sharpay trailed off and saw spots in her eyes. She staggered and fell to the ground. Moments later she weakly pulled herself up with the help of Troy as Ms. Darbus, part of the cast and her friends in the audience gasped. Sharpay excused herself from the stage and slowly made her way to her dressing room. Upon reaching the room, she sank to the floor.

She cried to herself for the next hour, quietly hearing the sounds of rehearsal. Things grew almost silent over the next fifteen minutes and Sharpay's crying was slowing. Yet, her chest was tight and her breathing was short. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, scaring Sharpay. "Shar?" She heard Zeke's voice through the door.

She wiped her cheeks and whispered, "Come in."

Zeke entered cautiously, looking for Sharpay before noticing her on the ground. "Sharpay, what's going on?" He asked seriously, sitting down with his back resting on the closed door.

Sharpay shook her head. "I don't want to talk to you right now, Zeke. Just go away."

"No," he said with a tone of defiance. "Why don't you talk to me anymore? Or any of our friends? You've been acting so different lately. And what happened out there on the stage?"

Sharpay broke down crying again, leaving Zeke feeling guilty. "Don't cry, Shar." He patted her back, trying to soothe her.

"No, Zeke. You don't get it. I don't want to be like this," Sharpay whimpered, starting to crack slightly.

"Be like what?" Zeke asked patiently.

"It hurts so much to be like this."

"To be like what?" Zeke asked again, what Gabriella had told him days before popping into his head. "You haven't been eating have you?"

Sharpay stared at him incredulously. "You make it sound like I_ don't_ eat. I do, Zeke," Sharpay snapped, quickly coming up with a lie. "It's just...sometimes things are really stressful."

"So you do eat? Just sometimes you don't? How often is sometimes?" Zeke asked, shocked at the reality of the situation, even though he wasn't receiving nearly the whole truth.

Sharpay had hurriedly thought up another lie. "It's only been a couple of times."

"Really? Shar, have you ever...made yourself throw up?" Zeke questioned nervously.

"What? No! Never," Sharpay lied yet again. "Zeke, I just want people to like me."

"Sharpay, don't. People like you. You have great friends who care about you. But not eating isn't going to help anything."

Sharpay smiled weakly. "I'm going to try eating again," Sharpay said, her face towards the floor. "Not that I don't! Just when I feel like not eating, I'm going to try to eat," Sharpay added quickly.

"I'm glad Sharpay. Because everyone has been worried about you,. If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

"Thanks Zeke," Sharpay spoke softly, hugging him loosely. Zeke helped her off the ground and they walked out of school together before going their separate ways.

--

Zeke listened to the ringing in his phone as he waited for Gabriella to pick up. "Hello?"

"Hey Gabs! It's Zeke."

"Hey. What's going on?"

"I can't talk long, so I'll make it quick. I talked to Sharpay after you guys finished rehearsal today," Zeke started, pausing when he heard Gabriella sigh. "And she told me that she doesn't eat."

"I told you! Something has been up with her."

"No, Gabs. It's not as bad as we thought. She's never made herself intentionally throw up. And she's only not eaten a couple of times. She told me she's going to eat, even when she doesn't feel like it."

"That's really good, but what about when I walked into the bathroom and heard her throwing up? Wouldn't that be intentional?"

"She said she hadn't ever made herself do that. She was probably sick, because remember she as sick for almost a week soon after that."

"I guess, but..."

"Hey sorry Gabs! I've gotta go! I just thought I'd let you know. See ya tomorrow!" And instantly the line went dead, leaving Gabriella torn between believing what Zeke had told her or what she had heard herself.

--

Sharpay weighed herself before dinner that night, her weight down to 94. The voice in her head had told herself she was almost skinny enough, if she didn't eat for a few more days. Yet, when Sharpay sat down for dinner that night she ate her entire plate consisting of mashed potatoes, grilled chicken and grilled vegetables without any regrets.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I hope you liked this! Sorry if it's short or if there are any spelling errors or anything. I needed to get something up. And Sharpay's eating! Yay, right? Hmm, for now. Hah, review please. I'd love to know what you thought! 


	15. Chapter 14

**Painfully P****erf****ect**

**Author's Not****e:** A lot of people have asked why Ryan hasn't realized Sharpay is so thin. Answer? It's not that he hasn't realized it, because he has, but he's so deep in denial because he doesn't want anything to be wrong with his sister, so he just doesn't believe what's right in front of him. Did that clear things up? Plus, Mr. Evans name is going to be Patrick. Okay? Hah. So, enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Sharpay had started eating again. She was at every family dinner and always ate her share. The scale hadn't been used in the past two weeks, a habit that Sharpay had tried to break. Her upbeat attitude was back, on the outside. Generally, she was happy - inside and out - but there were things that were going on in Sharpay's mind that worried her. **  
**

That voice still talked from time to time. That first meal that Sharpay ate, the voice was angry. Sharpay wanted to listen to the voice, the voice that she was convinced was there to help her. But she wanted her life back. So she ignored it as best as she could. The voice spoke less frequently, popping in only on occasion to tell Sharpay that what she was doing wasn't going to help her.

A small part of Sharpay wished that she hadn't told Zeke what was going on. She wished she had been more careful in the bathroom that day when Gabriella heard her. She wished she would've been better at hiding what she was doing. She was still convinced she didn't have an eating disorder. That's something she didn't want to be classified as. So she convinced herself that she could stop whenever she wanted, something Sharpay thought separated her from girls with eating disorders. That small part of Sharpay wished she was still losing weight the way she was. She missed the feeling she felt when she saw she had lost another pound. She missed feeling like she was finally going to be skinny enough.

But Sharpay was happier now. She hated the empty feeling inside when she hadn't eaten in days. It tore away at her soul and wrenched at her body. The burning sensation when she threw up as something else she hated. It was unpleasant and left her with that bitter taste in her mouth. Sharpay tried to avoid mirrors as often as she could, knowing they would tell her that she was ugly. They plastered thoughts onto her body, convincing her she was worthless unless she was skinny, convincing her that she was larger than she really was. She hated not being able to perform on stage when she wasn't eating. Passing out was something she had become familiar with, but she didn't like it. It worried her when she woke up lying on the ground, unaware of how she got there. The constant nagging questions by her peers, asking what was wrong and if she was alright, bothered her greatly. Those were the things she didn't miss.

Sometimes that small part of her that wished she was losing weight would try to take over. Thoughts raced through her mind, telling her she was better off losing weight, that it would help her. It was always difficult, but Sharpay tried as best as she could to ignore them. After about a week of eating again, Sharpay felt like she had her life back. Ryan was significantly in a better mood around his sister and he no longer had that gloomy air about him. Gabriella and Sharpay were the best of friends together, sharing secrets and laughs. She was doing better in school and was able to concentrate now. Things had improved for Sharpay.

Two weeks. Two weeks was all it took to convince Sharpay that she needed to lose weight again. Immediately following dinner, two Mondays after Sharpay told Zeke was what going on, Sharpay had ran upstairs to finish homework. Before starting her homework she had to go to to the bathroom, so she ran in quickly and went. As she washed her hands moments later, she avoided looking at herself in the mirror. She would glance occasionally, but tried to avoid it. When she looked at the reflection of the bathroom in the mirror, she noticed the silver glint of the scale. "Just one time," the voice in her head appeared again, whispering.

Sharpay tried to avoid looking at it, but something inside of her took over her. She dried her hands lazily on a blue washcloth before slowly moving towards the scale. She was curious to see what her weight was. She hadn't used it in two weeks, what would weighing herself once do? She stepped on the scale and waited for a number to appear. Moments later the glowing red letters shone 104 at Sharpay. She stumbled backwards off the scale and a rush of dizziness took over, causing her to fall to her knees. Thoughts entered in and out of Sharpay's mind in a flurry. She pulled herself up and forced herself to look in the mirror.

To anyone else, Sharpay was still too thin for her body, but she looked healthier. Her cheeks had a natural rosy tint to them, there were no dark circles under her eyes and she didn't look nearly as thin as she had a few weeks ago. All Sharpay saw was an ugly, fat girl staring back at her. She saw a girl who had ballooned back up to a three digit weight, piles of fat weighing her down. That was all it took for Sharpay to return to her drastic lifestyle.

She ran back into her room and paced. Her life right now was going so well, but she was instantly convinced she needed to lose that weight. Her friends knew she was eating again, and would know something was up once she stopped eating. She would restrict her food intake severely, but would have to eat and purge when she was around them. That's what she decided. It was a simple impulse decision that would eventually shock not only her life, but the lives of the people she loved.

--

This was it. The first time she would throw up in weeks. It wasn't how she wanted to lose weight, but she saw it as her only option. Sharpay sat down at the breakfast table, Ryan to her right, their parents sitting across from them. Sharpay took a bite into her stack of pancakes and watched Ryan do the same out of the corner of her eye. There was the usual morning talk, nothing special. Twenty minutes later and Sharpay had finished her plate of three large pancakes, a slice of watermelon and three pieces of sausage. She took one last sip of her orange juice and turned to Ryan.

"Hey, I left my bag upstairs. So do you want me to just meet you in the car?" She asked with a smile.

"Sure," Ryan started, swallowing his swig of orange juice. "Be out in about five minutes okay?"

Sharpay nodded and ran up the stairs quickly. Hesitantly, she entered the bathroom, locking the door behind her and flipping on the water faucet. Trying to get it over as fast as she could, Sharpay stuck her now healed fingers down her throat as far as she could until she felt the contents of her stomach coming back up. She repeated the process twice more, flushed the toilet and brushed her teeth.

She had taken a little longer than five minutes, but didn't expect Ryan to mind. She grabbed her bag and exited her room.

All day, up until lunch at least, Sharpay had thought about how she was going to handle lunch. Her friends would notice if she was leaving to go to the bathroom everyday. She decided she would only use that excuse on occasion, other times saying she had to finish a test or she decided she would wait until her next class to go to the bathroom. Sharpay sat down at the lunch table with Kelsi and Chad, digging right in to her large salad. Lunch was normal, as always. Sharpay ate and laughed with her friends, nothing seeming out of place.

The bell rang and the room full of teenagers quickly emptied, all going to their respective classrooms. Sharpay walked into the theater for drama and quickly approached Ms. Darbus. "Ms. Darbus?" Sharpay started politely. "Do you mind if I run to the bathroom quick? I have to go."

"Alright Ms. Evans. Take the pass and hurry back." Sharpay did as she was told and rushed down the almost empty hallway to the nearest bathroom. She listened to the sound of the shrill bell as she locked a stall behind her. She moved quickly, dropping to her knees, making herself gag and watching as her lunch returned into the toilet in front of her. Repulsed by the look, Sharpay repeated the act once more with her eyes closed and then flushed the toilet. She washed her hands and looked at herself in the mirror, upset with what she saw. Sharpay exited the bathroom and headed back to class, popping a mint in her mouth on her way.

--

In three days Sharpay had made herself throw up eight times on five different occasions. Her general caloric intake at a meal was below one-hundred fifty when she wasn't going to purge. Her weight was down to 102, Sharpay feeling happy that she was loosing weight again and that she was almost back to a two-digit number weight. Generally, she had been happy for the past few days.

Thursday afternoon Sharpay walked down the hall towards the theater with Gabriella at her side, telling her a funny story from math class. Sharpay smiled at the correct times and laughed when she was supposed to, but basically Gabriella's words went in one ear and out the other. She was so entirely focused on calculating how many calories she had consumed that day that she just couldn't pay attention to Gabriella.

The two friends entered the theater and got ready for rehearsal. It flew by quickly, overall being one of their best rehearsals to date. There were few mistakes and the set designs were coming along perfectly. Best of all for Sharpay, nobody suspected a thing. She told herself over and over that she could stop dieting whenever she wanted and that she wasn't doing anything wrong; she just had to get skinny first.

Ryan and Sharpay sat in the car in a warm, comfortable silence after rehearsal and drove home. When they pulled into the driveway and Ryan had killed the ignition, Sharpay moved her hand to open her car door and exited, running to get into the house and out of the brisk wind. Once inside, she kicked off her shoes and ran to her bedroom, throwing her bag onto her bed and then going into the bathroom.

Quickly, she hopped onto the sleek scale and stared at the scale below her. Moments later and it read 101.5. Sharpay huffed angrily and stomped back into her room, jumping onto her bed and getting started on her homework.

She sat on her bed quietly, working on her math homework for about twenty minutes, until she was interrupted by a small knock on her door. Looking up, she saw Ryan standing in the doorway. "Hey what's up?" Sharpay questioned casually.

"Not much. Want to talk?"

"Um, sure? Why?" Sharpay asked, moving her eyes in a confused motion.

"We just haven't really talked in awhile. So, I thought we should," Ryan spoke nervously, now unsure that he still wanted to talk to Sharpay.

Sharpay's face lit up with a smile as she moved her math book and patted on her bed for Ryan to sit down. He happy obliged and sat comfortably on his sister's bed. "So, how are you?"

"Fine. Just doing my homework," Sharpay giggled. "You?" She quickly added.

"I'm doing great." The room fell silent again.

"Shar..." Ryan started a few minutes later, but stopped.

"Yeah what is it Ry?"

"Oh, nothing. Just...never mind," Ryan spoke slowly.

"No, come on Ryan. We can talk about anything," Sharpay said sincerely.

"I don't want you to get mad. I know you would so just never mind."

"No, no. Come on. You wanted to talk, so let's talk," Sharpay insisted.

"It's nothing really. I'm just...I'm just glad your eating again," Ryan mumbled, looking down at his hands.

Sharpay was shocked and tensed up. "I was never not eating, Ry," she spoke slowly, looking out her window to avoid Ryan's eyes.

Ryan's head shot up instantly. "Shar. It's okay, because you _are_ eating again. Now everything is better."

Sharpay shifted uncomfortably in her seat and her cheeks grew warm. "I was never not eating, Ry," she repeated again, her voice cracking slightly.

Ryan put a hand on Sharpay's face and turned it so she was looking at him. Her eyes were filled with tears that threatened to fall. "Shar, can I just ask...why? Why did you do it?"

The tears quickly fell, plunging down Sharpay's face. Ryan tried to hug her, but she just pushed him away. "Ryan, just listen. I was never not eating, okay? I would _never_ just _not_ eat. Just please leave and let me finish my homework." Ryan nodded his head slowly and slipped out of the room, the denial he had had weeks previous starting to sink back in.

--

One week later and Sharpay's weight was down to 95.5. She was running a lot, had purged numerous times and wasn't eating unless it was for show and would eventually be thrown up anyways. It was Thursday again and Ryan had mostly forgotten about the incident last week with Sharpay, but it still gnawed at him occasionally, yet he ignored it.

Sharpay and Ryan got home from school a little after 3:30 and instantly Sharpay ran up to her room, leaving Ryan to park the car in the garage. She ran into her bathroom, locking the door behind her, and jumped on the scale quickly. 96 appeared and Sharpay jumped off the scale, feeling a little bit happy. She stood in front of the mirror and pulled up her shirt. Her stomach was sunken in and her ribs were showing again, her collarbone prominent. She turned around and looked at her back, trailing her finger down her spine that was starting to poke out of her skin. Sharpay took in what she saw and pointed out everything that was wrong. "My thighs need work, my stomach is too big, my face is fat and my arms are huge," Sharpay whispered quickly to herself. She shook her head in disappointment, dropped her shirt and left the bathroom.

--

As Sharpay walked into school the next day with Ryan to her side, she was down to 94 pounds. She smiled and she waved to people she knew and blew past people that still thought of her as the 'Ice Queen.' Sharpay's stomach was crawling with hunger as she approached her locker. Little did she know that the next few weeks would be the hardest and scariest in her life.

* * *

**Author's Not****e:** Okay, so I'm not sure what I feel about this chapter. It's a bit filler-ish, eh? It took forever to get it up because I wasn't sure if I wanted it to be something I was going to have it be..or not. Sorry guys, but it's finally up! So, let me know what you think (review) haha. They keep me going. What do you guys want to have happen? I love hearing your thoughts! You guys are all amazing! Xo! 


	16. Chapter 15

**Painfully P****erf****ect **

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM, Seasons of Love, Romeo and Juliet, Saw or The Notebook.

**Author's Note:** Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you like this chapter...it was really really hard for me to write. I knew what I wanted to happen, but I didn't know how to write it. I hope it's good. But...Um, don't hate me. Please? -sigh-

* * *

**Chapter 15**

88 pound Sharpay entered homeroom in a pair of black sweatpants that hung very loosely off of her hips and an overlarge grey sweatshirt that seemed to swallow her up. Her body was shivering slightly, despite the warm weather and layers she wore to keep herself warm. She pulled into a seat to the left of Gabriella and rested her chin in her hand to prop her head up.

"Hey Shar! How was your weekend?" Gabriella asked suddenly once Ms. Darbus finished reading the announcements, pulling Sharpay out of her dreamlike state.

"Oh, um," Sharpay started, "Pretty good. I didn't," Sharpay paused to clear her throat, "Do much. You?"

"Not much. Troy and I went to a movie on Saturday so that was nice. And I went to lunch with my mom yesterday afternoon so it was fun to catch up with her."

Sharpay nodded lazily and listened to her friend talk until finally the bell rang. As she gathered up her books so she could go to math, her mind was spinning with thoughts of food. Sharpay had been worried that she hadn't gotten her period yet this month, but thought maybe it was just late. Her stomach growled as she entered math with Taylor and Gabriella. All she had to eat all weekend was a banana and three bottles of water. Her body was moving sluggishly and she just felt sad.

The teacher began the lesson for the day but Sharpay could barely concentrate. She couldn't wait to get home so she could weigh herself. She hoped she'd lose at least one more pound throughout the day. Sharpay let her head rest in her chin as she scribbled in her notebook. Instead of taking notes for tonight's math assignment, she was calculating how many calories she could consume this week and when she would binge and purge, so she could reach her goal weight of 75 pounds. In Sharpay's mind, things were planned out perfectly. She figured that no harm would come from her dieting.

--

As soon as Sharpay and Ryan got home that afternoon, Sharpay pulled herself out of the car and went immediately up to her room. She slammed the locked bathroom door behind her and quickly purged the granola bar she had consumed in the car into the toilet. She scolded herself for giving into food when she had previously decided not to eat until dinner that Monday.

Sharpay flushed the toilet and quickly stood up and turned around so she could weigh herself. But instead of seeing the glinting metal square sparkling at her, she just saw the tiled bathroom floor. Frantically, Sharpay searched around the room looking for the scale, but screamed in frustration after a few minutes.

She ran down the stairs, her breathing short, and into the kitchen where her mom stood with Ryan making dinner.

"Oh, hi sweetie. Want to help Ryan cut up some vegetables for dinner?" Alyson asked her daughter while she stirred a pot of broth.

"I've actually got a lot of homework to do mom," Sharpay said between breaths, "I was just wondering where the scale went in my bathroom."

"The scale?" The older woman pondered aloud, turning towards her daughter. "The scale...Oh! The scale. I got rid of all the scales in the house."

Sharpay clutched at her side which was aching with pain before asking with the steadiest voice she could manage, "But why?"

"Well, I didn't really see the pointing in keeping those old scales. I bought some new ones however, and they should be here in about two weeks. No problem, darling," she stated plainly, turning back to the soup.

Two weeks? Sharpay didn't think she could bare going two whole weeks without weighing herself. How was she supposed to know if she was losing weight or gaining weight? Angrily, Sharpay marched out of the kitchen and back up to her bedroom, where she laid down on her bed and tried to control her breathing.

--

All week Sharpay was completely stressed. Her dieting was starting to take a very negative toll on her body. Her mind was going crazy over not being able to weigh herself and she had started purging almost daily. The pain was nearly unbearable, but the voice in Sharpay's head had returned and told her that all the pain she was going through would help to make her beautiful and that's all Sharpay wanted. In general, Sharpay was depressed and tired all the time and no matter what she did, she couldn't change it.

But just by looking at Sharpay, nobody would be able to tell. She had started wearing concealer and blush so her skin tone would look normal and was using a product in her hair that made it shine. She painted her nails so nobody could tell that they were becoming thin and brittle. She was wearing baggy enough clothes that didn't show off how skinny she was (or how big Sharpay _thought_ she was), but weren't big enough to look suspicious. Everywhere Sharpay went she faked a smile and a laugh and her overall happy attitude. Nobody would suspect a thing.

Come Friday, Sharpay's throat seemed to constantly be on fire. Last night when she purged her tomato soup, she thought she saw blood, but ignored it, thinking her eyes were probably playing tricks on her. She sat in drama class in a group consisting of Kelsi, Troy, Gabriella and Ryan. There assignment was to come up with a short play that summarized Romeo and Juliet and be prepared to perform it on Monday. They worked long and hard all class period. Troy was going to play Romeo and Lord Capulet, Gabriella's roles were Juliet and Lady Montague. Kelsi decided to play the Nurse and Ryan asked if he could play the Friar and Mercutio. Sharpay didn't really care what her role was, so she was left with Lady Capulet and other various minor parts. They had decided to do a modern interpretation of it, so they could keep their classmates entertained.

Class flew by quickly and soon enough the bell rang. "Hey, why don't you guys come over tomorrow and we can work on it and practice it a bit? We can invite Zeke, Chad and Taylor too and have like a movie night," Ryan offered as they put away the props they had been working with.

"That sounds good," Kelsi exclaimed as she picked up her books.

"Yeah, our parents are going to be out of town, but I'm sure it'll be fine," Ryan added. "Right Shar?"

"What?" Sharpay asked absentmindedly playing with her hair. "Oh yeah. Mom and Dad won't care. See you guys tomorrow." Sharpay smiled to her friends and her and Ryan left the auditorium and headed out to their car.

--

That night Ryan and Sharpay were home alone while their parents were out of town at Mr. Evans company dinner party and were staying overnight. Ryan and Sharpay stayed apart for most of the evening until about seven. Ryan decided to go and ask Sharpay what she wanted for dinner. He walked the short distance down the hallway and knocked on Sharpay's bedroom door.

"Come in," Sharpay said with fake cheer.

"Hey sis," Ryan smiled honestly. "I was getting hungry so I was wondering what you wanted to do for dinner."

Sharpay set down the book she was previously reading and pondered Ryan's question. "I don't know. Want to order pizza? Or make pasta together?"

Ryan laughed. "Sure."

"Sure what?" Sharpay asked, her face filled with confusion.

"Let's make pasta together," Ryan spoke happily and grabbed Sharpay's hand. Sharpay was a bit taken back, but obliged and let Ryan pull her off her bed. Ryan held Sharpay's hand tightly and they ran down the stairs together in a hurry. Once entering the kitchen, Ryan released his grip on his sister's cold hand and opened the cupboards and grabbed out two boxes of angel hair pasta.

"Shar, will you grab the tomato sauce and mushrooms out of the fridge?" Ryan called across the room as he filled a large pot with warm water.

"Sure." Sharpay turned to the fridge and felt her mouth water as her eyes feasted on the food in front of her. She scanned the fridge quickly and spotted the sauce right next to the mushroom. She grabbed both and slammed the fridge door shut, much to her stomach's dismay.

Twenty minutes later, Sharpay and Ryan stood side by side, Sharpay stirring a warm pot of tomato sauce with mushrooms, Ryan stirring two boxes of noodles into a pot of boiling water. They were laughing and singing together as loud as they could.

"How do you measure," Ryan sang happily.

"Measure a year?" Sharpay added joyfully.

"In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife?" Ryan and Sharpay sang together as best as they could and as loud as the could, despite there loud fits of giggles.

Soon enough their dinner was hot and ready at the kitchen table, plated fancily on plates with glasses of sparkling apple juice. The pots had been washed and the leftovers were packed up and put away in the fridge. Ryan and Sharpay sat at the kitchen table and dug into their food.

"This is quite scrumptious, my lady," Ryan spoke suddenly in an English accent.

Sharpay smiled brightly, "Why yes, it's brilliant. Whoever could've made something so delightful?" Sharpay added in the same accent.

They broke into a stream of giggles that quickly transformed into laughs. Sharpay flung a spaghetti noodle at Ryan and laughed hysterically when he suddenly stopped laughing and looked shocked.

"Ryan! If you could see your face," Sharpay breathed through laughs.

"Here twin sister, I'll show you!" Ryan smiled, and grabbed a handful of his noodles and flung them at Sharpay. Now it was Ryan's turn to chuckle, while Sharpay sat across from him with a shocked expression.

"Oh _no_ you did _not_ Ryan Connor Evans! I know where you sleep mister!" Sharpay dipped her hands in the bowl of spaghetti sauce and walked right up to Ryan, running her fingers through his hair and all over his face.

"NO! Sharpay Grace, I just put new hair gel in!" Ryan squealed and retaliated by repeating the same action Sharpay had.

"Ryan! This is my favorite sweatshirt!"

For the next fifteen minutes the twin siblings ran around the kitchen throwing apple juice, spaghetti and tomato sauce at each other. They lay in a pile on the kitchen floor in stitches of laughter. When Ryan spoke, his voice was hoarse from laughing. "Whoa Shar. You have _really_ good aim. Want me to clean up and you can shower first?" He offered like a gentleman.

"Nope, I want to clean up this mess with my big brother." Sharpay stood up weakly and unbalanced, but it went by Ryan unnoticed who was dusting off his jeans.

"Um, on second thought," Sharpay said slowly, worrying about the food that was laying in her stomach, "I'm going to take up your offer!"

Ryan pretended to look offended, but laughed. He smiled to Sharpay as she left the room. It was the best night Sharpay had had in months and right now she was going to bring it down incredibly.

She stumbled upstairs and entered the closest bathroom she could get to, which was the one across from Ryan's room. She turned on the shower so the water would start to warm up, but more importantly so it would cover up the sounds of her purging. She shoved two fingers down her throat, but nothing came up. She gag loudly, but no food returned. Frantically, she grabbed Ryan's toothbrush and jammed it down the back of her throat forcefully. Quickly, bile slid up the back of Sharpay's throat and splashed into the toilet. Sharpay coughed and watched flecks of blood fly into the toilet bowl. Overcome by the smell, Sharpay's body instinctively forced Sharpay to throw up again, this time a mixture of her dinner and blood.

Sharpay coughed onto a piece of toilet paper, wiped her mouth and flushed the toilet. As fast as she could, she brushed her teeth and hopped into the steaming shower, only slightly worried about the blood, expecting it to heal by morning.

--

Around ten o'clock Ryan entered Sharpay's room to find his sister reading in her bed on the verge of falling asleep.

"Hey Sharie. I see you got the tomato sauce out of your hair," Ryan pointed out with a laugh.

"It took me an hour. You're lucky you aren't a girl, so you have short hair. I swear the spaghetti was everywhere in my hair," Sharpay replied, setting her book on her bedside table.

"I had fun tonight though. We haven't done anything like that in a long time," Ryan said nostalgically.

"I know. It was great. We should do it more often."

"Yeah, we should. Well I'll let you get to sleep." Ryan hugged his sister tightly and planted a kiss on her forehead before exiting her room. Sharpay laid her head comfortably on her pillow and relived the events of tonight. It had been a great night, but what Sharpay thought was the best part was that Ryan didn't suspect a thing.

--

Troy, Gabriella, Ryan, Kelsi, Zeke, Chad, Taylor and Sharpay all sat around the Evans kitchen table eating pizza the next afternoon. Troy, Gabriella and Kelsi had arrived about three hours ago and they rehearsed for drama class. The rest of the gang had arrived about an hour ago, so they all decided to order pizza for lunch.

Sharpay was starving. She had an empty feeling deep inside her stomach that ached, so she quickly shoveled pizza into her mouth to fill the void. Within ten minutes she had eaten four pieces, but nobody noticed because everyone was wrapped up in their own conversations.

"So what should we watch today? My curfew isn't till like one so we've got _a lot_ of time," Zeke spoke out to the group.

"Let's watch Saw!" Chad burst with excitement, with many whoops from the guys and groans from the girls.

"No scary movies, please!" Kelsi whimpered, scooting closer to Ryan, who wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Let's watch The Notebook!" Gabriella sighed romantically.

"No! Who wants to watch that lovey-dovey garbage?" Chad interrupted.

"You guys wouldn't watch it a few months ago and it was my house. I vote we watch it tonight. Who agrees?" Gabriella questioned.

All of the girls quickly raised their hands, slowly followed by Troy, Ryan and finally Zeke.

"Aww! Are you kidding? You guys suck," Chad pouted, crossing his arms. Taylor wrapped her arms around Chad lovingly and he relaxed slightly.

"Okay, how about if we watch just one scary movie you guys will watch The Notebook? And then we can watch a bunch of comedy movies?" Taylor offered.

"Yeah," everybody quickly agreed with Taylor's idea. They cleaned up the kitchen quickly before entering the living room.

"I can't find the movies," Zeke complained after scanning through the stack of DVDs in the living room. 

"Oh, they are probably up in my room. Why don't I just run up there quickly and grab them and pick some movies that we could watch and bring them back down?" Sharpay offered, starting to stand up.

"Okay, that sounds good," Troy said, and everyone agreed.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Sharpay smiled and left the room, silently cheering to herself. Her throat still burned from the last couple of days, especially last night, but she ignored it and ran upstairs quickly. She decided she would purge her food as fast as she could and then would go and grab some movies from her bedroom. She entered the bathroom that was across from Ryan's room and shut the door behind her, accidentally forgetting to lock the door. She flipped on the water faucet and then leaned down in front of the toilet.

Hurriedly, she shoved her pointer and middle finger down her throat as far as she could, but all she did was gag. She tried again, but nothing was coming up. Sharpay was getting fed up and impulsively grabbed Ryan's toothbrush and quickly jammed it down her throat. She gag and quickly her lunch came back up her throat mixed disturbingly with blood and slid into the toilet in front of her. She shoved the toothbrush down her throat again and her eyes started to water as more vomit and blood filled the toilet.

Something was dribbling down Sharpay's chin and was filling up her mouth. She spit into the toilet and saw the salty crimson liquid spilling into the bowl. White spots were filling her eyes and blood seemed to be pouring out of her mouth.

Sharpay was feeling weak and her body started to sway. "This is too much blood, too much blood. Something is wrong. Help," Sharpay tried to speak, but wasn't sure if her mouth had even moved. The bloody toothbrush fell to the ground with a clang and Sharpay blacked out right next to it, blood still slowly dripping from her mouth.

--

Everyone was chatting downstairs when Troy suddenly drew their attention to him. "What's taking Shar so long?"

"I don't know. She's probably looking for a certain movie," Ryan shrugged, not really thinking anything of it.

"Want me to go check?" Taylor offered.

"Actually Tay," Gabriella politely butt in, "I'll do it. I have to go to the bathroom anyways, so I can just use Ryan's upstairs and then go help Shar with the movies."

"Okay sounds good," Taylor smiled, settling comfortably back into the couch. Gabriella smiled to everybody and exited the room and headed up the stairs. She was humming a random tune under her breath as she reached the top of the stairs. She headed towards the bathroom, but paused outside the door when she heard the faucet running. She knocked lightly on the door, "Shar? You in there?" She waited a minute for a response, but when she didn't receive one she panicked. "Shar!?" Gabriella twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open loudly. The sight in front of her burned permanently into her memory as her high-pitched bloodcurdling scream filled the walls of the Evans household.

* * *

**Author's Not****e:** Aww, I'm sorry. The whole cliff-hanger was mean, huh? Well, review please please please! If you were to only review one chapter in this whole story, I'd love it to be this one (or the last one, but hey). I wanna know what's going through your mind, how you reacted to it, what you thinks going to happen, what you WANT to have happen --anything. So, let me know and drop a review. Oh, and I'm going to bring this up: this story is going to be over soon so do you want me to write a sequel or just an epilogue? I'm up for either, but it's up to you guys! Anyways, happy holidays everyone! I'm going to go take cover by my Christmas tree now to hide from all the readers who want to chase after me with flaming pitchforks! ;) (Kidding, hopefully!) 


	17. Chapter 16

**Painfully P****erf****ect **

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM.

**Author's Note:** Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. You are all amazing. Here's my first update of 2008! Oh, Mr. Evans gets a name too. :) Michael! Anyways, I really wanted to get something up, so enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 16**

It was all a blur. Everything happened so quickly. Gabriella's scream echoed throughout the house as Troy, Ryan, Zeke, Chad, Taylor and Kelsi ran up the stairs. Gabriella's mouth was still in an 'O' shape, and she was shakily pointing to Sharpay as she backed against the wall and slid down it. Troy rushed to her side and glanced into the bathroom where he saw Sharpay.

"No...it can't...no," He mumbled as he wrapped his arms around a now crying Gabriella and stared into the bathroom. Ryan took one look at Sharpay's lifeless body and ran down the hall as far away as he could from the bathroom. He slid down Sharpay's door frame and stared straight forward. Oddly, his demeanor was calm. Zeke, however, knew that was the farthest from what emotion Ryan was experiencing right now and he ran next to his best friend and offered comfort.

Kelsi sat next to Sharpay's body, fear filling her eyes as Taylor sat right next to her and Chad called 9-1-1. "Please! We need an ambulance."

Everything happened in a rush. Soon enough, paramedics were scurrying into the house. Sharpay was put on a stretcher. Taylor and Kelsi hugged each other as they cried. Chad tried to help the paramedics out. Zeke tried to snap Ryan out of his state of shock. Gabriella was sobbing quietly in Troy's arms. The paramedics were calling things across the room, bombarding questions at the teens. And then suddenly, the house was still. The silence was deafening.

The only sounds that rung through the room were the small escaped sobs from the girls in the room. "Come on guys. We need to get to the hospital!" Chad shouted urgently. Taylor and Kelsi stood up and followed Chad down the stairs. "We'll meet you three there," Troy called after them, standing up with Gabriella.

"Ryan, come on we gotta go," Zeke whispered to the pale blond boy.

Ryan's body was frozen. Troy walked over next to Zeke and helped him pull Ryan up. They led him down the stairs behind Gabriella, left the house, and raced to the hospital.

As soon as they reached the hospital, Ryan slowly got out of the car and walked over to a garbage can, coughing up his lunch into it. Zeke patted Ryan on the back and handed him a tissue as they entered the hospital with Gabriella and Troy. They found Chad, Taylor and Kelsi quickly and they all proceeded to the front desk.

"Here to see a newborn baby?" The receptionist smiled sweetly, accustomed to seeing large groups of teens when babies were born.

"Actually, a friend of ours was just brought here.." Kelsi spoke quietly.

"Name?" The receptionist frowned slightly at the worried looks on their faces.

"Sharpay Evans."

"Oh," she started slowly. "She'll be in the ER right now. I expect it'll be awhile. You can wait in the waiting room until she's put in a room if you'd like."

"Thanks, that'd be great," Taylor said heavily. Zeke excused himself from the group and headed outside as they sat down so that he could inform Sharpay and Ryan's parents.

As the group headed towards the chairs, the receptionist called Troy back. "I'm sorry, but could you sign this waver?" She asked quietly. "It's for her operation and I see her parents aren't here."

Troy's eyes widened at the news of Sharpay needing surgery. Was it really that bad? But, Troy nodded and filled out the form quickly before going to sit down with his friends.

Ryan was still in a state of shock. He sat stiffly in a chair and his eyes were blank. Gabriella, who had stopped sobbing, but still had tears streaming down her cheeks, sat down next to Ryan when she saw the look on his face. Troy leaned forward and sighed heavily as Chad sat down next to him, Taylor to his left and Kelsi to hers.

Gabriella placed a comforting hand on Ryan's shoulder. Suddenly, he was pulled out of his daze and he flinched as he turned towards Gabriella. She stared at him with lost eyes before quickly pulling him into a hug. He was still, until he slowly wrapped his arms around her. They sat hugging for a moment before Gabriella released her grip and held Ryan's hand comfortingly. Zeke sat down next to Gabriella's left a couple of minutes later and said, "You're parents are leaving their party thing now, Ry. They're going to try to get here as fast as they can with the traffic."

For at least an hour, the group was completely and utterly silent. By now everyone had cried or was crying, even if they were just a few tears. Everyone except for Ryan. He knew that if he started he would never be able to stop. He was trying to keep his cool as best as he could, doing everything in his power to keep from crying.

"RYAN!" Mrs. Evans voice suddenly rang through the room and before Ryan knew it, he was in his mother's arms. Mr. Evans took a seat across the room from Ryan's now empty seat as Ryan's mom let go of him. She stared into Ryan's eyes and could find no emotion evident. "What's going on?"

Ryan could barely choke out a word as he resumed between Gabriella and Kelsi and Alyson sat next to her husband.

"We're not exactly sure. She's been in the ER for little over an hour now," Gabriella's voice quavered.

"Why is she here? We didn't hear much on the phone," Michael spoke calmly.

"I...Sharpay was lying in Ryan's bathroom unconscious. The blood...it was blood everywhere...it...I...I'm sorry." Gabriella started crying again, the image of Sharpay replaying over and over in her mind.

"And what do we do now?" Alyson whimpered, squeezing her husband's hand for support.

"Right now, Sharpay is in surgery. So...we wait," Troy spoke gently.

"We wait," Alyson repeated.

--

Sounds of the hospital were the only noises heard in the waiting room. Silently, Sharpay's friends and family waited, hoping for good news. Two hours later a middle-aged man entered into the tiny waiting room. His thick, curly brown hair was receding ever-so-slighty. His build was tall and muscular, but his eyes were striking. There were a deep violent shade of blue and they held millions of stories within in them. "Troy Bolton?" The doctor called, his voice deep.

Troy looked up with a shocked face. "Uh, yeah?" He asked nervously.

"You signed the waver for Sharpay Evan's surgery?" He questioned.

The room was still. "Yeah, but her parents weren't here. The receptionist asked me to. I...she's my friend, I didn't mean any harm, I just--." Troy was rambling before the doctor cut him off with a small smile.

"It's not like that, son. I'm here to inform you that Sharpay is out of surgery." He glanced around the room, suddenly realizing they were _all_ here to see Sharpay. "I'll lead you up to her room if you'll follow me."

The walk to Sharpay's hospital room was silent, filled with worry about Sharpay's health. There was a small bench across the hallway from Sharpay's room, B303. They didn't know how they were going to decide about who was going to see Sharpay first. "Why don't you kids go in first? All at once, alone...however you like. Alyson and I are going to talk to Dr. Gilbertson and then head down to the cafeteria. Let Sharpay know we'll be back up to see her, okay?" Michael spoke clearly. Taylor and Zeke nodded their understanding as they watched Sharpay and Ryan's parents retreat down the hallway.

"Who wants to go in first?" Kelsi spoke quietly moments later. They just looked around at each other before Chad spoke up. "Why don't we just all go in together, at least for right now?" The group agreed and one by one they filed into Sharpay's hospital room, Ryan discreetly staying behind.

Once the door was shut quietly behind Troy, they all pulled up chairs around Sharpay's room. The beeps of the heart monitor filled the room. Tears sprung from Gabriella's eyes at the sight. She moved right next to Sharpay's sleeping body and held her hand, Zeke doing the exact same on her right side. The once vibrant, glowing and beautiful seventeen year old Sharpay Evans now looked like she was stuck in the body of an eight year old. Tears burned in the back of Zeke's eyes as he traced over the deep scars on Sharpay's fingers.

Slowly, Sharpay's body moved and she started to stir. "Sharpay?" Zeke breathed. She woke up with a start, her eyelids flashing opening and she took in her surroundings.

"Where am I?" Sharpay's voice came out hoarsely in a low whisper, her eyes filled with panic.

"You're in the hospital, Shar," Gabriella cried to her best friend. And suddenly the memories came flooding back to her. She passed out, there was blood everywhere. Sharpay pulled her hands out of Gabriella and Zeke's grip and buried her face in her hands, ashamed and embarrassed. Tears slid down her cheeks and her small body shook.

"It's okay, Shar," Chad said, sliding an arm around his shaking friend. She looked into Chad's eyes. Her face was pale and her makeup was scarce. Tears filled her eyes and threatened to fall as she tried to gain her composure. She pushed her arm down so she could sit up, but stopped when her hand filled with pain. She looked down and saw two tubes connected in the back of her hand. Following the long lines, she saw an IV bag and suddenly realized it was nutrients that the doctors were trying to restore in her body.

Sharpay gripped the IV tightly and tried pulling it out, her hand hurting severely. Zeke noticed and yanked Sharpay's hand and held it. "Sharpay, what are you doing?" He asked, his voice panicky.

She stared into Zeke's eyes pleadingly. "Zeke, I _need_ to get it out." Her throat hurt terribly as Zeke stared at her bewilderly.

"No, Sharpay. You can't." Sharpay stared at him for a moment and laid back down in the bed, propping herself up slightly with a few pillows. The blond girl stared at the ceiling to avoid everybody's eyes but she could feel them resting on her heavily.

It was silent for a few minutes before Sharpay croaked out in a low whisper, "Where's Ryan?" Everybody looked around, expecting the blond boy to finally speak, but were shocked when Ryan wasn't even in the room. Troy glanced out the door and saw Ryan sitting still in shock outside the room. "He's outside, Shar. Do you want to talk to him?"

Sharpay nodded very slowly after a moment's hesitation. The gang shared an unspoken understanding and filed out of the room, allowing Sharpay and Ryan to talk by themselves. Silently, Sharpay waited patiently for her brother to enter. Finally she heard the slam of the door and saw Ryan's eyes staring right back at her. His gaze was overpowering and she flipped onto her right side, her back turned away from Ryan. Her eyes were extremely wide, glazing over with tears. And everything was silent.

The silence seemed to last forever. Ryan had barely blinked, just kept his eyes on his sister, a million thoughts running through his mind. Eventually, Sharpay couldn't take it anymore. "Why aren't you talking Ryan?" She asked, turning back towards him and positioning herself cross-legged on her bed.

Ryan Evans was thought to be one half of the perfect two. Sharpay and Ryan, perfect. It was just a word they were associated with in both negative and positive ways. Everybody thought of Sharpay as the leader. She was outspoken, demanding, beautiful and intimidating. That was her kind of perfect, or so everyone thought. Ryan was the quiet, thoughtful, nearly emotionless, overshadowed part of the perfect twosome. Only those closest to Ryan knew he was full of life and his emotions ranged over a wide spectrum. Ryan was the only person in Sharpay's life to be able to bring out her true emotions in any situation. But right now, Ryan was trying to keep his 'perfect' how everybody thought it should be. He knew that if he uttered one word right now he wouldn't be able to stop. If he allowed one silly tear to fall, they would never stop. For his sister's sake, he was trying to be perfect.

"Ryan, I need you to talk to me," Sharpay's voice croaked quietly. Ryan stared Sharpay in the eye and shook his head, the tears filling the brim of his eyes.

Breathing deeply, Ryan finally spoke. His voice was low and filled with anger, confusion, fear and sadness. "Why?" And then the tears fell and the words spilled out. "Why Sharpay? I don't understand it. You are beautiful. You are my sister and you did this. You're anorexic, Shar. It's a brutal word, a brutal world. I hate it. I hate that you let this tear you apart. I knew something was wrong, but I told myself that you were a good girl and that you wouldn't follow this path. I asked you about it so many times Shar. _So_ many times. And you lied. You lied over and over and you didn't listen to _anybody_. And then for awhile, Shar, you were better, but you fell back into it again. I don't understand it. I don't understand how you turned my sister, the sister I thought was perfect, beautiful, kind and gentle and so much more, I don't understand how you could turn her into this little girl who thought that self-harm would make her better. I don't get it Shar!" Ryan spoke in one breath, tears of every emotion streaming down his face.

Sharpay was scared by Ryan's outburst. Tears streamed down her face. She didn't know how to answer him. "Ryan, I need to be perfect. I _need_ it. And now I can never have it. Do you get _that_?"

Ryan stared at Sharpay in disbelief. "I don't get that, Shar. You thought starving yourself and turning yourself into a walking skeleton would make you perfect?"

"No, Ryan," Sharpay choked out, blinking repeatedly. "Ryan, you don't get it. And I wish you could. Do you know how many times I wanted to tell you? Or anybody? So that they could take all the pain out of me? I was in so much pain Ryan, but I felt like I needed it. Heck, I still feel like I need it. I want to be accepted, I want people to like me. I wanna be that person people look at and think 'She _is_ perfect.' That's what I want Ryan. And now I can never be that. Because everybody knows. Everyone at school is going to know. 'There goes Sharpay, the little anorexic girl.' You don't understand it. I needed this, Ryan. It was something _I_ could control and now I lost it."

Ryan was frightened by this revelation. "Sharpay, people love you. There is a hallway full of people out there who's last hope is this. Sharpay, _you_ are amazing. I can't even--," Ryan stopped talking and just let the tears stream down his face, Sharpay gripping onto his hand and doing the same. And there the Evans twins sat, the perfectly broken Evans twins.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hmm, kind of short...but I'm going to stop there. Lots of stuff will be explained in the next chapter! I didn't go through and reread it so, sorry for any mistakes. The easiest part to write was Ryan finally talking to Shar. His first little 'rant' was easiest. Haha, anyways...So basically, I was thinking I could write an epilogue about what happens in Sharpay's life or maybe a sequel where she goes to rehab? I have some ideas, but I want to know what you guys think. And it depends if I'm up to it because I'm basically over HSM. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Review with thoughts :) 


	18. Chapter 17

**Painfully P****erf****ect **

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM.

**Author's Note: **Whoa, whoa, wait. This is the last chapter? NO! You guys all had me going crazy. Did I say it was the last chapter? I don't think I did...it may have come off like this was going to be the last chapter, but no no no no no. Not yet, but in a few chapters, sadly, it will be. Anyways, your reviews were lovely and I'm glad you all enjoyed the last chapter. Aw, yes..Ryan's rant was sad. Hm, anyways, enjoy this and review :)

* * *

Michael and Alyson Evans sat at a small table in the hospital cafeteria, occasionally sipping from their Styrofoam cups of lukewarm, bitter coffee. Small swirls of steam rose from the cups before disappearing almost instantly. The words the doctor had spoken minutes before filled their minds. 

"Sharpay has been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa," Alyson spoke in a faint whisper, not daring to speak any louder. "Our daughter is anorexic?"

Michael looked at his wife, his face looking tired. "Our daughter is anorexic," he repeated slowly before taking a swig to finish off his coffee. "Let's go see her, okay?" He stood slowly, threw his cup away and shoved his hands deep into his dark blue jean pockets. His wife stood and linked arms with him and slowly together they walked up the two flights of stairs to get to Sharpay's room.

Minutes later, Michael knocked on the door three times, all of Sharpay's friends sitting in the hall behind him. The door flew open revealing Ryan. His cheeks were wet and blotchy and his eyes looked tired. He pulled a finger up to his mouth, silently informing his parents to be quiet. They entered the room and Ryan exited, receiving hugs, smiles and questions.

"Sharpay?" Alyson asked, her daughter slowly waking. Her face was gaunt--both eyes and cheeks sunken in, making her look ghostly. Her once glowing skin was now dry and pale, her hair limp and thin. But Sharpay's mother noticed her daughter's eyes. They were once a soft brown, dancing with happiness, dreams and joy for life. Now they were dull, no gleam shone in her eyes, only pain, fear and depression filled them.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans both gripped one of Shapray's cold bony hands in their own and stared at their daughter. Sharpay braced herself, waiting for the lecture, the disappointment she had brought them, 'Stupid, silly Sharpay, never good enough.' But it never came. What did were tears, questions and answers.

"Why Sharie?" Alyson cried out her heartache.

"Mommy," Sharpay's scratchy voice sounded. "I don't--I can't talk about that right now." Sharpay thought it was best if only Ryan knew for now. It was quiet for a moment before Sharpay added, "When can I go home?"

"You can't right now, sweetie. You've been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa," Michael spoke steadily.

The word hit Sharpay like a ton of bricks, knocking the breath out of her. Her chest tightened painfully as she tried to calm down while tears sprang out of her eyes. She couldn't be anorexic. She told herself that over and over, a million times. She had always thought she could stop and she'd never have to be classified under 'eating disorder,' but now she was. Sharpay had another question. "Why does my throat hurt so much?"

"Baby, you tore your esophagus. You had surgery immediately when you arrived. You've damaged your vocal chords," Alyson informed her daughter.

"Am I going to be able to sing again?" Sharpay blurted out alarmingly.

"Not right away, but eventually."

Tears of shame dropped down Sharpay's face as a nurse entered the room. "I"m sorry, but it's almost 6:30. Visiting hours will be over soon and Sharpay and I need to run some tests."

The Evans parents nodded and kissed their daughter goodbye, promising to come back tomorrow.

Once they were in the hall, the nurse informed them that a psychologist would be meeting with Sharpay tonight and then she retreated down the hallway.

"We've got to get going," Michael spoke to the teenagers.

"Mr. Evans? Would you mind if we spent the night," Gabriella motioned to the group, "and came back tomorrow with you?"

Alyson and Michael shared a glance before Michael nodded. "You girls can use Sharpay's room or the guest room and the guys can camp out with Ryan in his room. Or whatever works, I guess," he spoke quietly.

"Thank you," everybody spoke honestly. They slowly left the hospital, Sharpay on everybody's mind.

--

Sharpay's body shook, only her thin loose hospital gown covering her body as she entered one of the small nurse's offices with one of her nurses, Anna.

"Okay, Sharpay. Can you step on the scale backwards for me?" Sharpay's feet rested lightly on the cool metal as she waited impatiently for Anna to take her weight. "Okay, let's take your blood pressure," Anna said after writing 81.7 down in Sharpay's file.

"105 over 70. Low. Let me check your pulse," she spoke kindly, placing the stethoscope on Sharpay's chest. "Hmm, okay." She jotted a few notes and numbers into Sharpay's file before drawing a vile of blood from Sharpay's bony arm. She sent the blood off to the lab and sat with Sharpay until the results would come. Sharpay mentally noticed that she didn't feel hungry and her palms grew sweaty.

"So, how are you feeling?" Anna asked curiously, trying to make small talk.

"Great," Sharpay replied, the sarcasm evident in her voice as she rolled her eyes quickly.

"It's been a long day," the young nurse pointed out sympathetically.

"You think?" The small girl snapped.

"I knew someone in your position once, Sharpay. My brother."

Sharpay was slightly interested, but wouldn't show it. Soon, the results from Sharpay's blood test came back, all the numbers lower than they should have been. "We're done here." Anna stood, putting her arm out to help support Sharpay, who was having trouble walking on her own. Sharpay reluctantly grabbed Anna's arm and together they slowly shuffled down the hall and back to Sharpay's room.

Amber hooked Sharpay back up to the IV after helping her into bed. "Dr. Mischa will be in soon. She's a psychologist and she's going to evaluate you." As Anna turned to leave, Sharpay asked, "What happened to your brother?"

Anna smiled sweetly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sharpay."

Sharpay sighed in annoyance. She waited for the psychologist, but let her mind wander. She wished her stomach would ache hungrily so at least she'd feel better. She was sick of this IV pumping nutrients into her body that would make her fat. Suddenly, the door shut and Sharpay was pulled out of her thoughts. A woman in her mid-20's sat down in a chair next to Sharpay's bed. Her dark gold hair was pulled neatly into a side pony-tail and she looked stunning, even though she wore barely any make-up.

"Good evening, Sharpay. I'm Mischa," she stated, flashing her perfectly even, pearly white teeth. "Basically, I'm just going to answer some questions and you can answer with whatever you think. Be as honest as you can, please. So, how are you feeling today?"

Sharpay kept her mouth shut, but Mischa still wrote something down in her notebook. "Are you tired? Depressed? Angry?"

Again, Sharpay kept her mouth shut, not even wanting to begin to deal with this. But yet again, Mischa scribbled something down in her notebook. "What are you writing? I'm not even saying anything?"

Mischa smiled warmly. "Are you ready to talk Sharpay?"

"There is nothing to talk about. I'm not anorexic so you're wasting your time," Sharpay spoke plainly, her arms crossed across her chest. Mischa wrote for a minute before looking back up.

"Sharpay, why do _you_ think you are here?"

"Because...I got caught," Sharpay looked down shamefully.

"Caught doing what?" Mischa asked, keeping her eyes on Sharpay, but her hand moved gently across the paper.

"I was making myself throw-up, okay?" Sharpay blew up, her face extremely red with anger.

"Sharpay, I'm here to help you, you know."

"No you aren't. You're here to take everything I say and use it against me. You don't care how I feel or why I did 'this'. You couldn't care less. You just want to get this over with so you can go home to your family and not have to deal with sick girls like me!"

Mischa frowned slightly and wrote in her notebook for a few minutes. "Sharpay, why don't you tell me how you feel?"

Sharpay thought for a moment before speaking in a steady voice, "I'm angry. I'm depressed. I'm not hungry and I hate it. I feel fat and ugly and I just want to go home." Mischa nodded understandingly and kept talking while writing in her small little black notebook.

"Why do you feel like you are fat and ugly?"

Sharpay was getting annoyed with this lady. All she cared about was how Sharpay felt and right now Sharpay really didn't feel like sharing her feelings. "I need to be perfect and it's as simple as that. That's what I'm expected to be. And that's what I'm going to be. I have nothing left to say." Sharpay turned her back and laid down, her eyes wide open.

Mischa wrote in her notebook for a few more minutes and then sat and watched Sharpay. Once she was sure she wouldn't talk anymore, she left the room, thanking Sharpay for her time. And then slowly, Sharpay drifted off to sleep.

--

Ryan had barely talked since talking with Sharpay earlier that day. It was hard for him to fall asleep as he lay in the living room in a sleeping bag, with all of his friends sleeping around him in their respective sleeping bags. He couldn't believe that Sharpay was anorexic. At first he was shocked and sad, but now he was depressed and angry, the emotions switching off inside of him. Slowly, he pulled himself out of his sleeping bag and slowly walked to the small kitchen across from the living room.

He sat down at the glass kitchen table after preparing himself a cup of boiling hot tea. His hands were wrapped tightly around the piping mug as steam rose above in quick wisps. He pulled it up to his mouth and took a small sip before setting it on the table with a soft thud.

"Hey man," Troy's voice whispered in the dark, startling Ryan. Troy sat down in the chair at the head of the table, Ryan to his left, and sighed. "Can't sleep?"

Ryan nodded and took another sip of tea. "Yeah, me neither. It was a long day." Again, Ryan just simply nodded and took another small sip of his warm beverage. "You've been so quiet, Ryan. I couldn't manage not talking about it." Troy stood up and poured some of the hot water Ryan had boiled minutes before into a mug, plopped a tea bag into it and then sat back down at the table. The two teenage boys sat in silent for a few minutes before Ryan's small voice punctured it. "I _can't_ talk about it."

Troy was startled, but welcomed the small talk. "Why?"

Ryan stared at Troy directly in the eyes, his piercing gaze making Troy nervous. "Sharpay, Troy, my _sister_ is anorexic. And it's partially my fault."

"What? No, Ryan. It's not. It's nobody's fault," Troy reassured the blond boy.

Ryan glanced away from Troy, his eyes starting to glaze. "When Gabriella told us, she knew something was wrong. And I didn't believe her. I could've helped Sharpay. She could be here with me right now. But she isn't, is she? Do you see her here? No! She's lying in some hospital all by herself because she wasn't eating! I could have told my parents and she would've gotten better! It's my fault!" Ryan's whispering voice was shaking angrily and tears were dripping down his face. Troy was shocked, having never seen Ryan actually cry.

"Ryan, it's okay. I promise, it is not your fault," Troy whispered, patting his friend's back.

Ryan looked at Troy, wiping a hand across his face to get rid of the tears. "I'm sorry. I just...I feel like I should have done something. It's Sharpay. She's been my best friend my entire life. We told each other everything. I just wish she could have talked to me instead of doing this."

Troy sighed. "I know, Ryan. We all do."

--

The next morning, Alyson and Michael left the house early, leaving a note for the kids saying they'd be back to pick them up around noon. Sharpay's parents entered the hospital and asked the receptionist where Sharpay's room was.

"Oh, she was moved into the eating disorder wing just this morning. It'll be room A342." Michael nodded and the couple quickly made their way to Sharpay's room.

When they finally reached it, they say a girl in her young twenties standing outside Sharpay's door. "Good morning. You two must be Sharpay's parents?"

"Yes," Alyson answered skeptically.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Mischa. I'm a psychiatrist and I was asked to evaluate Sharpay."

"Oh, yeah. One of the nurses told us about that. Okay, so..?" Michael said.

"Well, I think that for Sharpay's sake, she should go to rehab."

"Rehab?" Alyson questioned.

"Like a facility that specializes in the treatment of eating disorders. There is one just outside of town, about an hour away in Santa Fe. I would recommend that and probably family therapy, along with the group and individual therapy she'll get at treatment," Mischa spoke plainly.

"You want her to go away? For how long?" Alyson's voice quivered.

"Treatment can take as little as six weeks. It all depends on the patient. But you would be able to visit and Sharpay can call. I believe that it's the best thing to do for Sharpay right now."

Alyson stared up at her husband and they shared a look of understanding. All they wanted was for Sharpay to be healthy again, so they would take this sacrifice for their daughter's sake. "Okay, we're in."

"Great. There's a spot open right now and I can call to book it for Sharpay if you'd like. She'll have to be out there by the end of next week if that works."

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Wonderful. I'll make the call right now and I can give you some more information when I get back. You are welcome to talk to Sharpay while you're waiting." Mischa took off down the hallway to call the facility. Michael and Alyson entered Sharpay's bedroom, seeing her laying on her bed wide awake.

"Hey sweetie. How are you feeling today?" Alyson asked after planting a kiss on Sharpay's forehead.

"I'm fine. What was that doctor talking to you about?" Sharpay asked, annoyance evident in her voice.

Michael cleared his throat and looked at his daughter. "You're going to treatment. At the end of the week we're driving you to Santa Fe."

"What? No! You can't!" Sharpay cried angrily. "I'm fine. I'm going to be just fine. Don't send me there! Mommy! Tell him not to, please."

Alyson just blinked away her tears and shook her head at Sharpay. "I can't, Sharpay. You need to do this."

"No. You can't! I hate you," Sharpay whispered. And from that moment, Sharpay just let the tears fall and didn't speak a single word.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hm, okay weird ending. I know. But I just couldn't figure out how to end it. Anyways, I hope you liked this. This was kind of just filler-ish. I think there is only going to be one or two chapters left and then I think I'm going to write a sequel. I already have ideas in mind and a couple of OCs but I think you guys will like them! Hm, I hoped you enjoyed this. Leave a review with your thoughts! 


	19. Chapter 18

**Painfully P****erf****ect **

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM or The Fray's "How To Save A Life."

**Author's Note: **This is the second to last chapter and the second shortest chapter, but I hope you like it. I'm going to start doing review replies at the bottom again when I post the last chapter. :) Hah, enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 18 **

The following day, the doctors decided to take Sharpay off of her feeding tube so that she could eat regular food. She still hadn't spoken a single word since she was told she was going to treatment. So, when a nurse brought Sharpay food, she silently refused to eat it. The nurse waited patiently, but Sharpay didn't budge or say a word. This pattern continued throughout the day, so the doctors were forced to put Sharpay back on the feeding tube. As much as Sharpay hated it, she wasn't going to talk. She didn't want to have to go to treatment, especially since she was still convinced she wasn't anorexic.

The week went by quickly, Sharpay's friends coming to visit her, even though Sharpay wouldn't speak. Her friends and parents visited everyday, but eventually, Ryan just stopped coming. His sadness had transitioned into anger and it was all projected at Sharpay. So, he simply just stopped visiting her because he knew he would blow up at her and eventually regret it. Troy, Gabriella and Zeke were there everyday before and after school, Taylor, Chad and Kelsi joining them all the time after school, but Sharpay still wouldn't speak. She understood how much her friends cared, but she knew they didn't understand why she didn't want to go to treatment.

Thursday afternoon, Gabriella, Chad, Zeke and Kelsi all walked down the hall towards Sharpay's hospital room. Gabriella knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open. "Hey Shar."

Sharpay quickly turned her head and stared at her friends in the doorway. "Troy and Taylor had to stay after school to finish a project together for History, but they said they'd try to swing by later if they can," Gabriella spoke.

"So, how are you today?" Zeke asked carefully, grabbing onto Sharpay's hand. Sharpay shrugged and squeezed his hand lightly. Chad and Kelsi exchanged a look and took a step towards Sharpay's bed. "Well, I hope you know we're all going to be here tomorrow before you have to leave," Chad spoke quietly, and everyone nodded their heads. Sharpay frowned and closed her eyes momentarily.

"Hey guys, do you mind if I talk to Sharpay alone for a minute?" Gabriella questioned to her friends. Chad and Kelsi nodded, exiting the hospital room, Zeke following after placing a kiss on Sharpay's forehead.

Once the door was shut, Gabriella pulled herself up onto the end of Sharpay's bed and looked her in the eyes. "Sharpay, can I ask you a question?" Sharpay looked hesitant, but nodded anyways.

"Shar, why did you do this? Because I really don't understand. You're beautiful, you know that right?" Gabriella spoke seriously, her eyes wide. Sharpay shook her head 'no', still refusing to speak. "Don't," Gabriella ordered, her whisper harsh. "Don't ever say you aren't beautiful. Why would you do this? Please, please, just know that you can talk to me? Okay?" Gabriella was trying not to cry, Sharpay's eyes welling up as well. "I know you're not talking, and you're probably not going to, but just listen. I've moved around so much in my life. When I moved here, I thought you were icy, pompous, and cruel. I thought there was no way in hell we'd every be friends. But you surprised me. After awhile, that icy exterior melted and I became friends with a caring, thoughtful, beautiful girl. And even though you were selfish, demanding, and ignorant sometimes, you were still my best friend.

"I've had three other best friends in my life, Sharpay. In my _entire_ life. This girl when I was six, Taylor and Kelsi. And _you_. But you, Shar, are like a sister to me. I trust you and I care about you, but you took this lovely person who became my best friend and turned her into a sick, broken little girl." Tears spilled down Gabriella's face. She looked at Sharpay in the eyes, as tears threatened to fall from Sharpay's eyes. "Sharpay, were you trying to kill yourself?" The tears plunged down Sharpay's thin face as Gabriella threw the harsh reality at her. "Because that's what's going to happen. You're going to die if you don't stop. And I'm going to lose someone so important to me."

Gabriella looked down, wiping the tears from her face just as a nurse walked in the room.

"Hi, I'm sorry to interrupt. I need to do some tests with Sharpay." Gabriella nodded and stood up. She walked over to Sharpay and wrapped her arms around her tightly, her hand grazing across her bony back. "I love you, Shar. I'll see you later." The blond girl nodded as Gabriella left the room, leaving her to think about everything that had just been said.

--

The air around the Evans house was stiff and uncomfortable. Sharpay's mom spent a good chunk of time packing clothes and various other things Sharpay would take to treatment. Michael talked with the treatment center about what exactly would be Sharpay's living style there. With Ryan, however, it seemed like he had completely forgotten that his twin sister was going to treatment the next morning. He was sitting in his room, listening to his iPod and working on his homework.

Around six, Mr. and Mr. Evans entered Ryan's room. "Hey Ry."

"Hey. What's going on?" Ryan asked, glancing up from his homework and pulling one out one of his headphones.

"We're gonna run down to the store to grab a few things to pack for Sharpay," Michael said, pushing his hands into his pocket. Ryan looked down at his homework and his voice grew stony. "Okay, see you later."

"And we're taking her down tomorrow morning. All of us," Alyson added, unaware of how angry her son was with Sharpay.

"Fine. Can you go? I have a lot of homework." Ryan waited until he heard the garage door shut, before pushing his headphones deeply into his ears. Ironically, the lyrics of The Fray started to pump into Ryan's ears.

_ Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend_

_Somewhere along in the bitterness_

_And I would have stayed up with you all night_

_ Had I known how to save a life_

Angrily, Ryan ripped the head phones out of his ears and grabbed his math book, chucking it across the room. It hit the mirror before hitting the floor. A small series of thin cracks appeared in his mirror, distorting his reflection. He screamed loudly, letting it echo throughout the empty house. A few minutes later, he stood up and took a deep breath and went to pick up his math book. He lifted it, but bent back down when he saw a picture lying on the floor. Flipping it over, he saw himself and Sharpay two years ago. They looked young and carefree. They were on vacation and both of their sun-kissed skin glowed. Sharpay was beautiful, despite the fact her hair was messy and she wore no makeup. They looked so much alike in the picture. Ryan ripped it to bits, tears dropping everywhere.

--

That night at the hospital, Sharpay lay wide awake in her dark room, the sounds of the hospital filling her ears. The beep of the machines hooked up to her body sounded rhythmically. Occasionally, the voices of nurses and the shuffle of their footsteps sounded. Sharpay's eyes were glazed over with tears, but she wasn't going to cry. She missed Ryan, she missed her old life, but she also missed the control she had. Suddenly, the voice appeared in her head. It was the first time since she had been found unconscious in the bathroom that it had talked.

"Sharpay, you were going to be beautiful. Everyone keeps saying you are beautiful and that you didn't need to stop eating. They're lying. You aren't beautiful, Sharpay. You were so close. You know why you aren't beautiful? Because you got caught. Now you're going to rehab and you're going to get fat. You're a disappointment. That's all you'll ever be, Sharpay, a failure."

"You're lying," Sharpay thought. Her head filled with cold laughter. "No, Sharpay. You're lying to yourself if you ever thought you were beautiful. You're a stupid, careless, fat little girl."

"No, I'm not. I can be better."

"Hahaha, please. Don't kid yourself." Sharpay gripped tightly onto the tube attached to her arm and pulled upwards, pain shooting throughout her arm. "I'll be perfect. I'll be perfect, I swear."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Okay, really sad ending. :( Basically, sad chapter. Well, the next chapter is the last, but then I'll have the sequel up! So, here's your chance to ask me ANYTHING about this story. Anything you've ever wondered or wanted to say. I hope you liked this. :) 


	20. Chapter 19

**Painfully P****erf****ect **

**Disclaimer:** I don't own HSM.

**Author's Note: **Well, this is the last chapter. It's short and I couldn't get anything to come out the way I wanted to, but I do hope you enjoy it. I've loved writing this and reading every single review. Thanks for reading. Review replies will start up again once the sequel has begun...

* * *

**Chapter 19**

"Stop it!" Sharpay's voice tried, but failed, to scream into the tan nurse's face. All color drained from her cheeks as she grabbed Sharpay's shoulders. A male nurse took her position and pinned Sharpay's shaking shoulders back, allowing the female nurse to replace the tube in her hand. Tears of anger and sadness fell down the small girl's face. Her arm ached and the pain heightened as the tube was replaced in her hand.

"Sharpay, you need to keep still," the soothing voice of the male nurse whispered. "It's nearly 3:30 in the morning." She resisted and tried to pull away from him, but realized that struggling took too much energy.

"There, there. All better," the female nurse said, stroking Sharpay's forehead. "You can't pull that tube out Sharpay."

Exhausted and defeated, Sharpay sunk into her bed and pulled the sheets all the way up to her chin. "I'll stay in here with her for the night," the female voice spoke loudly to the male. The sound of the door shutting echoed in Sharpay's mind as she held her arm tightly.

Sharpay had fallen into a light sleep, as had the nurse, when the voice spoke. "Stupid, silly Sharpay."

"I'm not stupid. I needed to get it out," Sharpay thought quietly once the voice woke her up.

"You didn't think the doctors would find out? You're in an eating disorder ward. Silly Sharpay."

"Stop calling me that!" Sharpay demanded sharply.

"Don't you get it, silly girl? If you had pretended to eat the food they brought you in the first place, you wouldn't have that damn tube force feeding you. You're so silly."

"Stop it, please."

"What a shame. You could've been perfect."

Sharpay breathed heavily. "I already am," she thought confidently, the denial about her eating disorder seeming to slowly start to slip away.

--

The Evans car ride to the hospital was silent. Ryan sat quiet and angrily in the backseat. They were going to meet the rest of the gang at the hospital to see Sharpay off. Ryan really wasn't in the mood to see Sharpay today and he had tried as best as he could to get out of going, but of course, his parents had dragged him along anyways. They arrived at the hospital quickly and Ryan jumped out of the car and ran over to his friends as his parents went inside to get his sister.

"Hey Ry. How are you?" Gabriella asked, rubbing his arm gently.

"I'm fine. Just fine. Great. I'm really excited about riding in a car for the next hour with my sister," He replied bitterly. Gabriella bit her lip and looked up at Troy, who's eyes looked like they understand how Ryan felt. Everyone watched as Sharpay was wheeled out of the hospital in a wheelchair. She no longer wore the hospital gown she'd grown accustomed to, but a pair of dark blue jeans and a large grey sweatshirt. Mr. Evans helped Sharpay stand up and she leaned against the car as he returned the wheelchair to the hospital and Mrs. Evans started the car.

"Just get in the car when you're ready, sweetie," Mr. Evans told Sharpay once he returned, and then got into the car. Ryan took one look at his sister, rolled his eyes and muttered that he'd see the gang later before he got into the car with a slam of the door.

"Oh, Shar!" Gabriella cried, wrapping her arms around her best friend. Sharpay smiled and hugged Gabriella tightly. "Get better, okay?" Gabriella whispered into Sharpay's ear. The blond girl nodded once they broke the hug. Then, Kelsi and Taylor hugged Sharpay at the same time, all three girls embracing the love with smile.

"We're going to miss you, Shar. Get better really soon," Kelsi spoke hopefully and stood off to the side with Taylor.

"Bye Sharpay," Chad said dully and started to walk away, but then quickly turned around with a goofy grin and said, "Just kidding. You don't think I'd let you just leave." Chad wrapped his arms strongly around the frail girl. "We'll see you soon."

Troy approached Sharpay slowly, before pulling her quickly into a hug. "You're like my sister, Shar. I'm going to miss you. We'll come visit you when we can, but you've got to get better." Troy released Sharpay and then Zeke came over. Sharpay's eyes were starting to well up as Zeke hugged Sharpay. He kissed the top of her head repeatedly as she sniffled into his chest. "I love you, Sharpay."

Zeke bent down and wiped the tears off of Sharpay's face and then planted a light kiss on her cheek.

"Bye Sharpay!" The group of friends chorused and Sharpay waved to them all and then got into the car.

"Ready to go?" Mrs. Evans asked, turning around.

Sharpay nodded and the car pulled out of the parking lot slowly, heading towards her temporary new home.

--

Sharpay had fallen asleep within minutes of them leaving the hospital, but slowly woke up once the car stopped again. "We're here." The Evans family exited the car all at once. Sharpay followed closely behind her parents, but Ryan just paced the length of the car outside.

"You must be the Evans family," a receptionist greeted them warmly. "And this must be Sharpay. Well, I need one of her guardian's to fill out these forms and then Sharpay can go put her stuff in her bedroom with one of you."

"I'll fill out the forms," Michael offered, taking the thick stack of papers and taking a seat to fill them out.

"Okay, Sharpay, you are in room 41. You have a roommate, but I think she may be in morning group right now." The receptionist smiled as Sharpay followed her mom down a few hallways to get to her room.

Sharpay stood in the doorway and peered into the room. The walls were a creamy white color and the carpet looked rough and grey. There were two beds. One of them just had a bare white mattress on it, but the other was covered in a bright blue/green pattern and there were pictures all around the wall of the bed.

"Want me to put your bed together for you?" Alyson asked sweetly, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Sharpay nodded her head and waited lazily in the doorway while she watched her mom put the pink sheets and comforter onto the small mattress.

"How's everything going in here?" Sharpay's father's warm voice soon filled the room.

"Good," Alyson replied after placing the last pillow gently on Sharpay's bed. "I think we're ready to go."

The corners of Sharpay's mouth turned down slightly as she followed her parents slowly out to the car. "I love you so much, Sharpay. We'll see you soon," Michael said after he gave his daughter a big hug and a light kiss on the top of her head.

"Love you, sweetie," Alyson waved. Ryan was still sitting outside of the car, leaning on it casually while the sun danced brightly on his golden hair.

Sharpay cleared her throat and Ryan looked up slightly, an angry frown plastered on his face. And then suddenly, all Ryan could see was a tangle of long blond curls and wet tears splashed violently on the shoulder of his shirt. A pair of thin arms were wrapped tightly around his back, gripping onto him for dear life. Awkwardly, he stood there without moving his arms or saying a word.

And then Ryan heard her voice. He had always loved just listening to his sister speak. For the first time in days, she spoke. "I'm sorry," she whispered heavily in his ear. And that was all that needed to be said.

* * *

**Author's Note: **It's finally over! This feels so weird. It's my first finished full length story. Haha, I hope you've enjoyed reading this. I know I've had fun writing it. Well, you all know about the sequel. I don't know when I'll have it up, so put me on alerts or something so you can read it as soon as it's up. Hah, oh and any suggestions for the title of the sequel are greatly appreciated and are taken into consideration. Thanks for _everything_ guys. I love you all TONS! 


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